Mines and Communities: Refusing to Play by Company Rules
On January 9, 2007, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) granted preliminary approval of Kennecott Mineral’s Eagle Mine permit. The potential metallic sulfide mine is on the Yellow Dog Plains, within a few miles of the shores of Lake Superior. This decision should not have come as a surprise to anyone. According to one member of the DEQ, “the DEQ [is] leaning toward approving the application regardless of any deficiencies.” This fact was already clear to anyone that has attended DEQ hearings/public forums on the issue. To be as polite as possible, the DEQ has found it difficult to mask their disregard for us Yoopers and citizens of Michigan.
Michigan DEQ noted 91 technical deficiencies in Kennecott’s original application. In response, Kennecott submitted new information that addressed more than half of these shortcomings. Certain deficiencies have yet to be addressed: an adequate plan for monitoring groundwater near chemical storage facilities and for monitoring water quality downstream from the holding basins; an adequate plan to monitor levels of air contamination in the mine and how those contaminates might make their way into the groundwater; adequate information on a “rigorous analysis technique” in relationship to subsidence and the stability of the roof of the underground mine; adequate tables and maps describing the mine’s impact on hydrology.
It is this deficient application that is awaiting final DEQ approval in May.
Mineral Exploration on the Yellow Dog Plains. photo courtesy Doug Cornett
While Kennecott’s dismal environmental record has been utilized in fighting the approval of the Eagle Project application, one aspect of the company’s record has been overlooked. From the onset, the majority of opposition groups have been unwilling to emphasize Kennecott/Rio Tinto’s record regarding Geneva Convention and UN Resolution violations. Discussion of the company’s activities in Ontario, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and Chile is avoided in an attempt to not appear confrontational, emotional, or radical – perhaps for funding reasons and to ensure a seat at the DEQ’s table.
Citizen opposition to a potential Exxon/Rio Algom mine, south of Crandon, led to the formation of the Wisconsin Review Commission. Chaired by Secretary of State Douglas LaFollette, the Commission recorded testimony by indigenous people from Alaska, Colombia, Ontario and New Mexico regarding Exxon’s mining and oil drilling activities and chemical and oil leaks. When the Commission released its report on March 24, 1995, LaFollette urged the state legislature to approve “bad actor” legislation, requiring the state to consider a company’s past performance before approving state mining permits.
Professor Al Gedicks, of University Wisconsin, LaCrosse, used this kind of information in assisting Wisconsin’s opposition to both the Crandon and Flambeau mines. Gedick’s vast experience and exceptional public speaking skills have been little-utilized in Michigan’s opposition to the Eagle Project. There must be openness on the part of the organized opposition, in Michigan, to use everything it can, particularly those tactics that have proven successful, if the intent is to prevent Kennecott’s mine from opening.
Rio Algom’s (a Rio Tinto subsidiary) Elliot Lake, Ontario, uranium mine, only a few hours east of Marquette, MI, is one facet of this record that should concern citizens of the Michigan, particularly as global mining companies, salivating over likely DEQ cooperation, are currently exploring the area for uranium.
From 1956 to 1959, Elliot Lake was the primary supplier of uranium yellowcake to the US military, which was used to manufacture this country’s massive nuclear arsenal. The Elliot Lake and Rossing, Namibia facilities have also supplied Great Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons arsenal. Now, more than 60 years after the US dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Canadian-based Cameco Corporation’s current exploration (a joint venture with Bitterroot Resources Ltd.) for uranium in the Upper Peninsula should cause all of us concern. There are currently two large markets for uranium: to fuel nuclear power plants, and for use in US and Israeli weapons systems. Prior to the 1940s there was not a large market for mined uranium. Rio Tinto created a market for its uranium then. The current US administration’s plan for a “new nuclear weapons system” hinges perhaps on the potential for uranium extraction in our area.
At Elliot Lake, numerous worker deaths have been caused by inhalation of uranium dust. Also, the local Serpent River Band of Chippewa community suffered many horrendous birth defects due to uranium poisoning of the Serpent River. Driving through Elliot Lake, via Highway 17, one will find billboards of studio-produced “nature” photos with the motto, “Elliot Lake: Footsteps to Nature.” This type of billboard is found only in this, the most environmentally-devastated part of Ontario.
On June 12, 1982, the largest public demonstration in US history occurred in Central Park. Close to one million people rallied for a moratorium on US and Russian nuclear weapon production. Although each successive US administration has ignored continued public opposition to nuclear weapons production, there remains a groundswell of support for an end to uranium extraction, the construction of nuclear power plants, and nuclear weapons production.
US citizens are becoming aware of these company’s records regarding uranium extraction and metallic sulfide mining. Today, the environmental and economic devastation caused by the global mining industry has become a part of our collective conscience. Most citizens now know something of the suffering caused by uranium extraction in the Four Corners area of the southwestern US and acid mine drainage in the Rocky Mountain Region. Even supporters of the Eagle Project recognize this long and inglorious history.
Massive citizen opposition, due largely to discussion of Exxon/Rio Algom, BHP-Billiton, and Kennecott/Rio Tinto’s track records, led to Wisconsin’s passage of a “moratorium” on metallic sulfide mining. The law requires that a company provide examples of one such mine that was operated for at least 10 years, closed for at least 10 years and successfully reclaimed – without polluting ground or surface water.
Mining giant BHP-Billiton’s subsidiary, Nicolet Minerals Co. attempted to bypass the moratorium, in an attempt to secure approval for a mine south of Crandon. BHP cited the Sacaton Mine, in Casa Grande, Arizona, the Cullaton mine in the Nunavut Territory, Canada, and the McLaughlin mine in Lower Lake, California.
Cullaton was used as an example of a mine that was closed 10 years without polluting and McLaughlin an example of a mine operating cleanly for 10 years. According to DNR attorney Charles Hammer, Wisconsin DNR decided in May, 2002 that the company didn’t submit enough information about the Sacaton Mine and the agency couldn’t decide if it was a good example.
Cullaton had not been closed for 10 years at that point and samples taken from a pool of water near dead vegetation showed acidic levels that breached the mine’s water license. In the case of Sacaton, Nicolet Minerals offered to submit more information, however, Wisconsin DNR is still unable to approve a metallic sulfide mine in the state, based upon the moratorium’s criteria.
Michigan DEQ has noted from the beginnings of the Michigan statute and rules process that they will not allow consideration of a moratorium, going so far as to specify that discussion of Wisconsin’s mining moratorium law would not be permitted. In 2004, the DEQ omitted this writer’s public comments regarding Kennecott/Rio Tinto’s global track record, fully cognizant that this same discussion in Wisconsin led directly to the moratorium. If we are to prevent, if not this mine, a future of metallic sulfide and uranium mining in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan citizens must be willing to discuss this egregious track record. It worked in causing citizen outrage in Wisconsin and there is little reason to expect anything different in our situation.
At a May 2, 2005, “Citizens Advisory Group” meeting, I asked Jon Cherry, Eagle Project Manager, if there was an example of a metallic sulfide mine that could pass scrutiny under Wisconsin’s mining law. “There is one in Nevada,” Cherry replied. When asked what the mine’s name was Cherry said that he was “not sure.” The fact is that every metallic sulfide mine in the world has adversely affected the environment, which is why Kennecott, and others, cannot mine in Wisconsin.
Although the company cannot pass scrutiny under Wisconsin’s moratorium law, Kennecott refers to its now-closed Flambeau Mine as an example of a successful metallic sulfide mine. Wisconsin DNR and company monitoring of the Flambeau River shows levels of mine contaminants in sediment and crayfish to be 10 to 100 times higher than Kennecott’s independent data anticipated during the permit process for that mine. Following the disclosure of these results, Kennecott ended the process of collecting and testing fish, sediment, and crayfish samples. This mine is currently undergoing various stages of cleanup. The area’s topsoil was contaminated to such an extent as to require its removal from the site in 2003.
Following the closure of the Flambeau Mine, Rusk County’s unemployment rate was higher than it had been before the mine was opened. Twice during the 4-year life of the mine (1993 to 1997), the county had the highest unemployment rate in the state.
A popular argument among supporters of the Eagle Project is that the Upper Peninsula has a rich history of mining and, concurrently, that “we need jobs.” Apparently, these few supporters, such as TV-6’s Brad van Sluyters, feel that the benefit of a handful of jobs in the short-term will offset an overall loss of jobs and tourism dollars. There are also high costs pertaining to highway maintenance and construction as well as mine reclamation that will inevitably rely on local taxpayer dollars if the UP is converted into a metallic sulfide mining district.
In Wisconsin, Kennecott successfully engaged in what became known as the “consensus process” that eventually secured its bid to open the Flambeau Mine. The consensus process effectively co-opted the energies of the opposition, resulting in lax rules regarding the mine’s function. Here, as in Wisconsin, Kennecott has been able to help write the very rules that will govern their potential mining operation. Due to the opposition’s involvement in the statute/rules process, the DEQ and Kennecott now claim that laws governing metallic sulfide mining are the “strictest in the nation” and the process has been inclusive of all parties involved.
In retrospect, citizen participation, conditional on the DEQ allowing discussion of a moratorium and Kennecott/Rio Tinto’s track record, would have proven invaluable. Much of the organized opposition’s energy was spent on this process. Fortunately, citizen discontent remains high. In the Fall of 2006, Save the Wild UP collected signatures from over 10,000 citizens opposed to Kennecott’s proposed mine.
The mining battle in Wisconsin provides a contemporary example of massive citizen opposition to unsafe mineral extraction. It has been proven on numerous occasions that ordinary citizens, when persistent, can effectively protect their local economy and land, air, and water. This has only come when refusing to play by company rules, whether or not those rules are upheld by public officials.
Citizens must continue to protest this potential metallic sulfide mine. Protesting is relatively cheap and more effective than many people realize. During Wisconsin’s battle for a moratorium more than 400 citizens protested on the Capitol steps. In Marquette, on August 4, 2005, over 400 citizens showed for the first DEQ public hearing on the Eagle project. Nearly every single public comment, representing a wide range of issues, was in opposition to the mine. Despite state geologist Hal Fitch’s remarks that much of the testimony raised “premature questions,” the DEQ was visibly rattled by the large opposition. Since, they have attempted to dilute the power of these mass gatherings. Tactics include holding hearings over longer periods of time, during work hours, and when college students and faculty are away during breaks.
Upcoming DEQ hearings take place at Northern Michigan University’s University Center, in Marquette, MI on March 6, 7, and 8 from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm and 6:00pm to 9:00 pm. A large crowd, as there was 2 years ago, will send a powerful message to the Governor that this mine will not be welcomed. Stopping this mine requires only that we all defy DEQ expectations and simply show up.
Folk singer Utah Phillips said that “those ruining the Earth have names and addresses.” They also have shareholder meetings and track records. We need to utilize this information in order protect public health, a sustainable economy, and our waters of Lake Superior.
References:
Moody, Roger. Plunder! London. PARTIZANS. 1991.
Northwoods Wilderness Recovery. News Release. December 15, 2006
Wisconsin DNR, 1997 Act 171. Mining Moratorium Law.
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, “Keepers of the Water.” VHS. 1997
WLUCTV-6. “DEQ Ruling.” Presented by Brad van Sluyters. January 13, 2007.
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York. Harper Collins. 2003.
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