Petition for Review of Final Determination and Order of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Concerning Groundwater Discharge Permit No. GW1810162 was filed today, March 12, 2010, in the Circuit Court for the County of Washtenaw.

Petition for Review of Final Decision and Order of Administrative Agency in Contested Case (Nonferrous Metallic Mining Permit - Part 632) was filed March 11, 2010, in the Circuit Court for the County of Washtenaw.

March 2, 2010

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment will be holding an informational meeting at the Westwood High School auditorium in Ishpeming on Thursday, March 11, from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., to discuss a request by the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company to modify the groundwater discharge permit for the Eagle Rock Mine project.

This public meeting is not required for a permit modification of this type, however, the DNRE wanted to give the public an opportunity to ask questions about the changes in design being discussed.

The proposal is available for viewing online at: http://tiny.cc/vkoPN.

AP environmental writer

TRAVERSE CITY — A company preparing to build a nickel and copper mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula wants to change its wastewater treatment system in a way that could negate the requirement for a federal permit, officials said Tuesday.

Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. has asked the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment to modify a 2007 state permit authorizing underground discharge of treated wastewater from the mine planned for rural Marquette County.

Originally, the company proposed injecting the treated water back into the groundwater through a network of soil-covered infiltration pipes. The new plan calls for keeping the pipes on the surface and covering them with Styrofoam insulation and a liner. The treated water would still be pumped into the groundwater.

That would make it easier to inspect and maintain the system while providing better distribution of the treated water, said Robert McCann, a spokesman for the department, which will hold a March 11 public meeting on the proposal in Ishpeming.

There would be no change in the piping apparatus itself or the quality of the water sent underground, which would be treated to drinking standards, Kennecott spokeswoman Deb Muchmore said. Both designs are “common and effective,” she said.

Muchmore said although the primary reason for the proposed change is to improve the system, Kennecott may look into whether it also would nullify a requirement for a separate federal groundwater discharge permit.

“The company is evaluating this as a possible option” but has made no decision, she said.

Kennecott already has applied for the federal permit, the final regulatory hurdle before the mine can be built. The company hopes to begin construction this year.

Environmental Protection Agency officials said Tuesday they were still reviewing the application.

It’s too early to say whether Kennecott’s proposed change would make the federal permit unnecessary, said Rebecca Harvey, chief of the agency’s regional branch in Chicago that oversees underground water discharges.

The company has given the agency information about the would-be modification but “they haven’t made any formal request of us,” Harvey said.

Michelle Halley, attorney for the National Wildlife Federation, said there was little doubt Kennecott’s biggest motive was to sidestep the EPA.

“Why else would they be doing this?” Halley said. “There’s no other reason to change the treated water infiltration system at this point.”

If Kennecott wants to make the change, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also should require an update of its separate mine construction and operation permit, which the department approved last month, Halley said. Her group plans to file suit this month challenging that decision.

Environmentalists are fighting the mine, believing it would pollute the groundwater and nearby rivers. The company says it will protect the environment.

Author Eric Hansen will present a slide tour of the U.P.’s best hikes, waterfalls and scenic vistas during two slide show presentations — in Southfield (Detroit area) on March 4 and Lansing March 6.

His theme is: The Poetry and Practicalities of Hiking Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Hansen, an award-winning conservation essayist, is the author of Hiking Michigan’s Upper Peninsula - A Guide to the Greatest Hiking Adventures in the U.P. Nine hundred miles of memorable hiking research went into that project.

Also a well-known advocate for U.P. conservation causes, Hansen’s presentations feature an update on current U.P. conservation themes, including the metallic sulfide mining controversy.

See the url below for his Detroit area appearance, part of the monthly gathering of the South East Michigan Group of the Sierra Club on March 4. The U.P. part of the program is scheduled for 7:30pm. Hansen’s Lansing show is part of the Quietwaters Symposium on March 6 (details at the url below) and will begin at 12:15pm..

Also below is an audio clip, plus other U.P. credits and essays.

He has highlighted the U.P.’s rich natural heritage in adventure features for Backpacker Magazine, the op-ed pages of our region’s leading journals, and in numerous public radio interviews.

Widely traveled, he is a veteran of 30 treks to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, successful ascents of most of the high peaks in Glacier National Park and a mellow and memorable telemark-style ski descent of Colorado’s highest peak, Mount Elbert.

http://michigan.sierraclub.org/semg/index.html

www.quietwatersymposium.org/

A WUWM interview marking the launch of Eric Hansen’s U.P. book.
http://www.wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/view_at10.php?articleid=57
Drag the bar to the 17 minute, 50 second mark to begin U.P segment.

Essay on the threat of metallic sulfide mining to the pristine waters of the U.P. and Wisconsin
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/29549204.html

Essay on Pictured Rock’s Beaver Basin
http://wilderness.org/content/omnibus-tour-beaver-basin

$2.2B earmarked to reverse century’s worth of damage

JOHN FLESHER
AP environmental writer

TRAVERSE CITY — The Obama administration has developed a five-year blueprint for rescuing the Great Lakes, a sprawling ecosystem plagued by toxic contamination, shrinking wildlife habitat and invasive species.

The plan envisions spending more than $2.2 billion for long-awaited repairs after a century of damage to the lakes, which hold 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the document, which Lisa Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, will release at a news conference today in Washington.

“We’re committed to creating a new standard of care that will leave the Great Lakes better for the next generation,” Jackson said in a statement.

Among the goals is a “zero tolerance policy” toward future invasions by foreign species, including the Asian carp, a huge, ravenous fish that has overrun portions of the Mississippi River system and is threatening to enter Lake Michigan.

Others include cleanup of the region’s most heavily polluted sites, restoring wetlands and other crucial habitat, and improving water quality in shallow areas, where runoff from cities and farms has led to unsightly algae blooms and beach closings.

Also promised is a strategy for monitoring the ecosystem’s health and holding federal agencies accountable for carrying out the plan.

During his 2008 campaign, Barack Obama pledged $5 billion over a decade toward fulfilling a Great Lakes cleanup wish list developed by a coalition of agencies, scientists and activists.

Congress last year approved his request for a first installment of $475 million. The newly released plan assumes yearly appropriations of the same amount through 2014, except for the $300 million President Obama requested this month in his 2011 budget.

The 41-page plan sets out ecological targets and specific actions to be taken by 16 federal agencies working with state, local and tribal governments and private groups.

Among the goals it seeks by 2014: finishing work at five toxic hot spots that have languished on cleanup lists for two decades; a 40 percent reduction in the rate at which invasive species are discovered in the lakes; measurable decreases in phosphorus runoff; and protection of nearly 100,000 wetland acres.

It also will help save species such as the lake sturgeon, a prehistoric fish that can reach 8 feet long and 200 pounds but is endangered because of overharvesting and habitat degradation. The plan promises to provide 25,000 young sturgeon for stocking programs.

Combined with enforcement of environmental rules and new ones where needed, officials said the plan would help make Great Lakes fish safe to eat, and ensure their waters are suitable for drinking and swimming, and their native plants and animals are thriving.

The lakes provide drinking water to more than 30 million people and are the backbone of a regional economy dependent on tourism, outdoor recreation, shipping and manufacturing.

“We now have a golden opportunity, even a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to make huge progress,” Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, co-chairman of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, said in a telephone interview Saturday. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time. Now the federal government is putting some real resources behind it.”

Jeff Skelding, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, which represents environmental groups across the region, praised the plan’s commitment to long-range funding for the restoration but said Congress should boost Obama’s 2011 spending request to $475 million.

The coalition also says too much restoration money is being diverted to fighting Asian carp, which could endanger the region’s $7 billion sport fishing industry by gobbling plankton and unraveling the food chain.

An “all-out effort” is needed to keep the carp out of the lakes, but funding should come from elsewhere in the federal budget, the coalition said.

Cameron Davis, EPA’s senior adviser on the Great Lakes, said about $58 million in restoration funds would go to the carp battle this year. But invasive species programs are getting less restoration money than other needs, such as toxic cleanups and habitat improvements.

Readmore :    Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan

Please come join us for an evening of song and storytelling and a celebration of our place and land.

Tuesday - March 2, 2010  - 7:30 pm

Women’s Federated Clubhouse, across from Peter White Library, on the corner of Front and Ridge.

More about Skip Jones - www.skipjones.net

Beverages and refreshments available

Donations not required but thankfully accepted

For more information, call Cynthia at 360-2414

By Emma Masters - http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/09/2814665.htm

9 February 2010

Contaminated water seeping from a mine in Kakadu National Park has a uranium concentration more than 5,000 times the normal level, a Senate estimates committee has heard.

The Office of the Supervising Scientist is the environmental regulator of the Ranger uranium mine, which is owned by Energy Resources of Australia.

The office today told the committee that water seeping from underneath the dam has about 5,400 times the level of uranium than the natural background level.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam says the environmental regulator told the committee about 100,000 litres of water seeps from the tailings dam every day.

Mr Ludlam says the water has been leaking from the dam for years.

He says the regulator says it will be impossible to rehabilitate the site.

“The uranium concentation in the billabong surrounding the mine are about three to five parts per billion,” he said.

“But the uranium in the processed water that is leaking from beneath the tailings dam is 27,000 parts per billion.

“So it’s roughly 5,500 times as much uramium in that water as there is the surrounding environment and that means the company has got a huge problem.”

He says ERA must make clear the effect it is having on the nearby environment.

“ERA made a quarter of a billion dollars in profit last year,” he said.

“I think the least they can do for the cultural and environmental integrity of Kakadu National Park is do some proper water quality sampling so we know what kind of contamination we are dealing with.”

ERA says it cannot confirm the uranium concentration figure because it says it does not know the context in which it was reported.

The company refutes that 100,000 litres a day are leaking from the dam.

It says the Ranger uranium mine is one of the most environmentally regulated mines in the world.

Public Written Comment can be sent to the DNRE until the 20th of February.
Please send to:
Michigan DNRE
420 Fifth Street
Gwinn, MI 49841
Attn: Mike Smolinski

DNRE Meeting Overview
by: Cynthia Pryor

Well, the place was packed. There was a healthy mix of proponents and opponents and you never knew which way the tide was going to swing. The opponents to the road project were well informed and brought good comment to the hearing. (Of course!) Through the diversity of comment many of our issues were brought to the table. I was proud of the showing and maturity of the public comment given. Good work! The proponents were union bosses, business owners and citizens who would be looking for the jobs. The hearing official made it clear that they were looking for comment about the road - not about the mine jobs or side issues. We were all given three minutes and many of us were allowed a second chance at the podium as the evening went on. The public hearing lasted past 9:30 and it was efficiently run by the MDNRE.

The psychological win for me was near the close of the hearing when a man in his 30’s stood up and talked about how he was a multi-generational Yooper, mining was his heritage and he owned a business with 35 workers and they needed jobs and everyone was going O.K. yada, yada and he closed his statement with: And we want Rio Tinto out of here - they will destroy this place! Wow! the crowd was stunned and broke into huge applause and roars of approval. It was great.

Mike Smolinski is the MDNRE wetlands permitting agent and will be the decision maker. We have until the 20th of February to make public comment. There is no time line associated with the decision. I encourage you all to send in multiple entries bringing up as many of the REASONS TO DENY this permit as you can. DO send copies of your comments to the Governor and Rebecca Humphries. DO call the Governor’s hot line. DO take the opportunity to let your voice be heard. We need to win this one.

Solid factual data is the key. Focus on the fact that they do have alternative routes. Focus on the number of wetlands that will be disrupted. Focus on the wildlife issues. Focus on the fact the this is a Kennecott road that will be used to connect the Eagle Mine with the Humboldt Processing facility and as such requires legal approval of an amendment to their Part 632 Mining permit Then DEQ Director Jim Sygo made it clear that Kennecott needed to file an amendment - if they were to construct and use any other road to haul ore - than the one they indicated in their permit (AAA, 510/550). This wetlands permitting process BEFORE they have filed a Part 632 Amendment is nothing more than Kennnecott’s effort to bypass the legal law of the land of the state of Michigan.

My personal thanks to all who attended. Thanks so much for evening out the odds!

Keep it going . .

Cynthia Pryor

Read Article Posted on The Street

Read The Wall Street Journals Article (Subscription Required)

Contact: Gabriel Caplett; gcaplett@gmail.com; 906.226.6649

Yellow Dog Summer will hold an event on February 15, at 7:00 pm, in the Chapel of Messiah Lutheran Church, located at 305 W. Magnetic St., Marquette, Michigan in support of the roughly 560 workers in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 30 who were locked out of their jobs at Rio Tinto’s Borax mine, in southern California on January 31.

The event will feature informal speakers, a film showing and refreshments.

“With Rio Tinto trying to slip through the backdoor in our community, we must stand in solidarity with the Borax workers and demand that Rio Tinto finally make good on their claims to respect worker rights and labor laws wherever the company operates,” said Yellow Dog Summer organizer Teresa Bertossi.

The International Mining and Maritime Unions have called for “worldwide solidarity actions” to take place on February 15. The ILWU Local 30 is supported by the more than 20 million member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), the Maritime Union of Australia, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union - Mining and Energy division (CFMEU) and a number of other miners’ unions around the world.

In an October 15 support letter the Maritime Union and CFMEU said:

“While our Unions have had a long and bitter experience with Rio Tinto and their anti-union, anti-workforce tactics and policies here in Australia, we continue to be amazed at the way in which multi national corporations like Rio Tinto, demand and expect working men and women to sacrifice hard won conditions of employment in order to prop up already bloated corporate profits.”

Yellow Dog Summer is a citizen-based group focused on protecting the environmental and economic health and vitality of the upper Great Lakes region.

For further information please contact Gabriel Caplett at gcaplett@gmail.com or (906) 226-6649

Permits Drag on U.S. Mining Projects
By ROBERT GUY MATTHEWS

Despite having vast reserves, the U.S. remains a major importer of metals and minerals.

Obtaining the permits and approvals needed to build a mine in the U.S. takes an average of seven years, among the longest wait time in the world. So despite having vast underground stores of raw materials, the U.S. is one of the last places miners go to start a project.

At the proposed Kennecott Eagle nickel mine in Michigan’s sparsely populated Upper Peninsula, the wait is at seven years and growing. Global miner Rio Tinto says the project would fill a raw-material gap in the U.S. economy, but the company has yet to produce an ounce of nickel there.

Last month, a state agency issued a final order making state water, air and mine permits effective, but Rio still needs a federal water permit. And the company expects challenges from environmental groups.

Overall, the U.S. is tied with Papua Guinea for the longest approval process among the 25 top mining countries in the world, according to Behre Dolbear Group, an international mining and mineral advisory group. In Australia, a huge mining center, the process takes an average of one to two years.

The length of the mine-approval process means that the U.S., while having the reserves as well as the market appetite for metals and minerals, remains one of the top importers of the materials from Australia, Brazil, Canada and Africa.

“We are becoming more and more dependent on metal imports in the U.S.,” said Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association, an industry group. Imports into the U.S. for selected metals—including gold, copper and zinc—rose 8.7% from 1998 to 2008, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The time frame in the U.S. isn’t necessarily reflective of tougher laws. Australia and Canada have environmental laws for mine building that are on par with U.S. rules. But mine building often draws more opposition in the U.S. than in those countries. Part of that is due to mining’s checkered history and reputation for pollution, abandonment and sometimes-shoddy management. Mining companies in the U.S., have cleaned up their management for the most part, but reputations haven’t caught up.

Emily Bernhardt, ecologist and assistant professor at the biology department at Duke University, says a focus on the length of the permitting process in the U.S. is misplaced. “The length of time it takes for permitting is almost irrelevant because they are not always looking at the right issues,” she said.

This month, Ms. Bernhardt co-authored a scientific paper calling on the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers to stay all new mountaintop mining permits. One issue is the permits focus on mainly local mining-site environmental impacts but don’t take into account impacts far from the mine site, she said.

Minerals are critical to economies, as raw materials for power stations, bridges, cars, appliances and computers. They are limited by nature and can’t be mass produced. Having a domestic source means lower distribution and shipping costs. And mines generate jobs and taxes.

But mines also permanently change a landscape and community with new roads, heavy equipment and traffic. Their impact on water sources is increasingly being scrutinized both in local communities and through regulation and court processes. Environmentalists, conservationists and some scientists are studying whether minerals leaching into water systems can harm water purity or cause health problems. Other concerns for underground mining include the creation of sinkholes, soil contamination, loss of biodiversity and erosion.

Mining companies contend that laws and processes in place mitigate most of these concerns. They also say that a balance has to be struck between leaving land untouched and providing needed materials. But most people simply don’t want a mine near where they live.

“Folks say it is just a little mine, but it is a loss of a place that I find so compelling a reason to stand up for,” said Cynthia Pryor, a spokesman for the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, dedicated to stopping the Michigan nickel mine. “There is timber and blueberry and hunting and all the things that are of value to a local community.”

J. Murray Gillis, who teaches on mining issues at Michigan Technological University, says such concerns are often misplaced, noting that mining companies put up bond money to restore land.

“Mining companies have such great restrictions and everybody is watching them,” he said.

Ms. Bernhardt, the ecologist, said mining companies, in general, have done what they have been asked to do but that the permitting process is flawed. “What the permits are allowing to happen, as in mitigating damage from mining, is not in fact mitigating damage,” she said.

Seven years ago, Rio began working on developing the nickel reserve in the Upper Peninsula. It was considered ideal because it is concentrated in a relatively definable area. The 90-acre project anticipates 500 construction jobs and about 200 long-term jobs, both welcome in the Upper Peninsula, where unemployment stands at around 20%. The proposed mine is located underground, below a river bed.

Rio has obtained dozens of permits from several local, state and federal bodies that regulate water, air and pollution. Mining companies generally have to provide air- and water-quality samples, survey maps of potential water leaching, wastewater storage and plans for reclamation, such as reseeding of vegetation.

Rio says it will continue its efforts until the mine is opened. “Mining companies have to go where the minerals are,” said a spokeswoman for Rio’s Michigan project.

Write to Robert Guy Matthews at robertguy.matthews@wsj.com

Rio Tinto locks out over 540 Union Workers at the Borax Mine in California. Read More…
UPDATE Company Can’t Keep Story Straight After Lockout: tells union workers that they must sacrifice to keep company afloat, while company reports to investors that it is flush with cash. Read More…

Protesters Try to Slow Rio Tinto Buses Loaded with Non-Union Substitute Workers

1. Through the appeal process, petitioners from the previous contested case will challenge the DEQ decision in Circuit Court.

2. Mining icon Jack Parker testified on the petitioner’s behalf, claiming serious rock structure instability and a flawed mine plan. The DEQ has ignored Parker’s research and has chosen to trust the company’s engineering plan.

3. Alger Delta Electric’s $8.5 million upgrade project along CR 550 is not covered in the permit and is therefore illegal. Amendments have not been filed with the DEQ. Also, this wasteful project has been a thorn in Granot Loma’s side as they have been threatened by Kennecott (A-Delta) with a lawsuit for refusing to grant them additional easements through 4 miles of private property.

4. The proposed ’south road’ is also illegal due to Kennecott’s failure to follow permitting procedures with this proposed 23 mile long ‘haul road’ (90′ wide in some areas, making it a highway), or the fact that they plan to fill over 30 acres of wetlands, displace wildlife and endangered plants, and potentially contaminate numerous creeks, streams and rivers, while cutting an industrial gap through the last remaining undeveloped woodlands in Marquette County.

5. To build the mine, heavy trucking would be forced through Marquette City to CR 550 and 510/AAA for 2-3 years. The only traffic solution to that potential problem being, according to the city, is to push a truck route via McClellan Ave., through a quiet residential neighborhood, to Wright Street.

6. The EPA is expected to issue its draft decision on the Underground Injection Control Program that would allow Kennecott to dispose of 504,000 gallons/day of treated industrial waste water into a septic field. There will be a public hearing, 60 days of public comment and the option for appeal.

7. The already contaminated Humboldt Mill would remain contaminated to the tune of 3.5 million tons of additional tailings waste, just from Eagle. Once the sludge pit is full, tailings could be stored on land, where previous dumps have created potential health issues for anyone living downstream of the mill.

January 26, 2010

Alger Delta Threatens Granot Loma Over Utility Easements

In an effort to complete Kennecott’s unpermitted power line to Big Bay and the Yellow Dog Plains, Alger-Delta Electric Co-op has filed a lawsuit against Granot Loma Farms for 15 easements along their 4-mile portion of the project. Co-op manager Tom Harrell refers to the lawsuit as a ‘legal complaint’ and is pressuring Loma Farms owner Tom Baldwin to give up his property beyond the legal right of way.

According to Baldwin, “The co-op’s original permit application allows construction within legal utility right of way. However most of the line is outside of the right of way. They (Alger-Delta) threatened to discontinue power to Loma Farms, which was designated an historical landmark in 1991″.  He has been negotiating with Alger-Delta on behalf of Kennecott and the utility is handling the lawsuit.

As compensation Alger-Delta offered Baldwin an undisclosed amount of money for the additional property needed.  “It’s about a property owner signing a fine print ‘contract’ with a utility which allows them to do whatever, wherever they want,” said Baldwin. “Alger-Delta expects me to pay property taxes on my land that  Kennecott is using for free to earn themselves 10 billion dollars”.

Alger-Delta has an alternate plan to re-engineer the utility lines for Granot Loma that could cost Kennecott an additional $75,000. In retaliation, power lines and equipment could be taken off of Loma properties and Baldwin would be forced to pay back to the co-op the costs for reconnecting to the grid in the future. “Basically they are trying to bully me into being a good co-op member” said Baldwin.

Kennecott has financed the entire $8.4 million dollar project, allowing Alger Delta to contract the work and broker the electricity. “Alger-Delta is like Enron - they’re just a broker. A good question to ask is why are we in Powell Township paying some of the highest electric rates in the state?”

One reason, Baldwin said, is that Alger- Delta purchases 100% of their power from companies that sell wholesale electricity and they recently signed a 30-year contract with Wisconsin’s WPPI. The co-op claims that Kennecott’s ‘upgrade’ combined with a reliable power source like WPPI will keep Powell’s electric rates low. Baldwin disagrees, “We all know that’s not going to happen”.

In October Baldwin recommended that Kennecott finance the building of a small community wind farm for Powell Township. “Citizens of the community will not benefit from a mine project on the Yellow Dog Plains, much less the potential ecological disaster that is connected to the Eagle Project. This would give Kennecott a way to somehow payback the community for all the aggravation and distress which goes with what they’re doing here. It would be an environmentally friendly way to provide energy to the township,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin believes that given the current green energy climate the incentives being offered by both the federal government and the USDA for alternative energy projects are excellent. Kennecott could recoup 30% of its multi-million dollar investment if they would connect to an alternative energy source. Matt Johnson, spokesman for Kennecott said, ‘We’ve talked a little bit about this. It’s something we’d be interested in looking into”.

Baldwin has looked into it and recently acquired a zoning permit with Powell Township to install a wind turbine on his own property. “The more wind energy we put into the system, the less carbon we produce, and that’s good for everybody”.

Legal issues with Alger Delta and Granot Loma will be reviewed at a mid-February court hearing. In the meantime the wind continues to blow in Powell Township as Kennecott pushes heavy power lines to Big Bay.

“The mining plan is unsafe, and the DEQ’s decision to let it proceed is flawed, illegal and goes against the interests of the people of Michigan,” said Michelle Halley, an attorney representing the National Wildlife Federation. “We will challenge this decision to protect Michigan from this dangerous form of mining that has proven to be unsafe to people, communities and wildlife in other states.”

The decision to issue two permits for the Upper Peninsula mine—known as the Eagle Project—also flies in the face of a recent decision by an administrative law judge, who concluded that the grounds on which the mine would be constructed is a sacred site to native people that should be protected.

The National Wildlife Federation criticized the timing of the decision, which was made before an administrative law judge had finished reviewing new information that the DEQ itself had requested to evaluate the risk the mine could pose to people and water quality. The decision comes days before the authority to decide on the mining permits would have been shifted to the newly appointed director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

“Instead of leveling with the people of Michigan, the Granholm Administration has chosen to push a controversial decision forward without a full accounting,” said Halley. “The result is a decision that short-changes the people, wildlife and economy of Michigan. We will appeal this decision and seek justice elsewhere.”

The National Wildlife Federation’s Halley said that groups opposed to the mine—including the Huron Mountain Club, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve—intend to appeal the decision.

The permits allow a controversial mining project to move forward that would fence off a documented indigenous sacred site and allow the discharge of pollutants to ground water and surface water. The mine would change the nature of the region from valuable wildlife habitat to an industrial park.

The Eagle Mine is the first mine in Michigan that aims to extract metals from sulfide ore bodies. This type of mining—known as hard rock mining in the West—often produces, as a byproduct, sulfuric acid that can prove deadly to rivers, streams, fish and wildlife for decades after closure of the mine.

The Eagle Mine would be adjacent to the Salmon Trout River—one of the last mainland U.S. rivers used as spawning grounds by the Coaster Brook Trout.

“Any final decision on this mine and the fate of the Great Lakes is a long way off,” said Cynthia Pryor of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, a local group opposing the mine. “We will fight this project, because it is unsafe and because the process has been perverted, for as long as we can.”

Read The DEQ’s press release

Eartha Jane Melzer writes:    http://michiganmessenger.com/33340/controversial-kennecott-mine-permits-okd-at-11th-hour

For further information,  read article by Gabriel Caplett

Comments from Cynthia Pryor, YDWP Sulfide Mining Campaign Director, 360-2414

What just happened here? The DEQ, as party to a State of Michigan Administrative Contested Case process, just unilaterally bypassed both the legal process and Administrative Law Judge Patterson in making a sweeping declaration and finding of law. This sweeping “judgment” was made not by Judge Patterson, not by past DEQ Director Stephen Chester, not by the interim DEQ Director Jim Sygo, but by a Senior Policy Advisor within the DEQ. This was done as a final  DEQ action on the matter - on the day before the DEQ was to be dissolved and the new DNRE Director was to take office.

How blatant can this be? This is the dramatic action of a DEQ that hopes as a last ditch effort to resolve the Kennecott issue and allow this mine on the Yellow Dog Plains - before their authority is superseded by a new agency. Delegation of DEQ Director ‘final decision’ on the matter, was given to Senior Policy Advisor Frank J. Ruswick, Jr. two weeks ago. There was no known correspondence from Judge Patterson to the DEQ, Kennecott or the petitioners during this time frame. But out of the blue, a day before DEQ dissolution, this DEQ policy advisor made a judgment, ruling and order granting Kennecott both a Part 632 mining permit and a ground water discharge permit AND vacating a remand order made by then Director Stephen Chester concerning Eagle Rock as a “place of worship”. A policy advisor of the DEQ became a Judge and a DEQ Director and has so ruled - and we must accept that?

This is an egregious act that now will absolutely require appeal to a higher court and should require an appeal to the new DNRE Director Rebecca Humphries and the Governor of this state. We should not sit by and accept such action as the accepted mode of “lawfulness” in this state.

Please call the office of the Governor and lodge your complaint: 517 373-3400 or 517 335-7858.

I would expect letters of protest by every environmental group in the state and we will certainly be writing the Governor. Her contact information is:

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing, Michigan 48909

PHONE: (517) 373-3400
PHONE: (517) 335-7858 - Constituent Services
FAX:(517) 335-6863