Think colossal industrial development in the Midwest – do the sparkling waters and gorgeous shoreline of Lake Superior, or pristine wilderness of the Boundary Waters, come to mind? If not, they should, given the new generation of massive metallic mines currently being slated for the Upper Midwest. These proposed mines would be among the largest in the U.S., and in some cases in the world. And they would be located in some of the country’s most treasured and unique freshwater ecosystems. The trouble is, sulfide mining and water just don’t mix.
In early June, the Michigan Court of Appeals will hear arguments in a case over the construction of an underground mine near the shores of Lake Superior in the Yellow Dog Plains of Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula. Due to the Eagle Mine’s potential for creating acid mine drainage – a highly toxic product formed when sulfides in the ore and/or overburden interact with oxygen and water – and a host of other environmental and economic concerns, the mine has generated significant controversy in the local area and beyond.
In addition, as the first mine permitted by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) under the state’s revised mining law (adopted by the legislature in 2004) and the first mover among the new generation of massive metallic mines facing the region, the Eagle Mine is an important example of the health and environmental onslaught from mining currently poised to hit the Upper Midwest.
Primary among the issues in the court case is whether MDEQ properly assessed the potential for the mine to collapse. As the ore body is located directly under the headwaters of the Salmon Trout River, whose watershed contains “high quality aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of regional significance” and which serves as the sole natural breeding ground for the Coaster Brook trout, collapse of the crown pillar would likely result in creation of acid mine drainage that would flow down the river and eventually to Lake Superior.
During the permit process, an expert in geological and mining engineering from Michigan Technological University conducted an analysis of the crown pillar’s stability and concluded that it would “NOT be stable.” MDEQ’s expert consultant also raised concerns with the mining company’s analysis of pillar stability, but the agency went ahead and permitted the mine after allowing the company to supplement its application.
The tribe, environmental groups and private landowner association bringing the appeal also are contesting the agency’s approval of blasting a sacred tribal site to create the mine portal (the agency found it was not a “place of worship” because it was not a building), as well as its failure to conduct a cumulative impact analysis, the inadequacy of the contingency plan and plans for prevention of acid mine drainage and reclamation, and shortfalls in the controls demonstration.
The Eagle Mine is only the first of many new acid mine proposals in the Upper Midwest. Michigan subsequently permitted another mine in the Upper Peninsula, while neighboring Minnesota and Wisconsin are faced with at least three major new mines as well. The rural areas of these states are not strangers to mining – but this new generation of mines is of a wholly different scale and poses a different set of potential impacts, primary among them acid mine drainage. Notably, the companies backing these mines are foreign companies based in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada and Chile and operating through U.S. subsidiaries.
Minnesota faces two large-scale proposals for acid mines. The Northmet Mine would be, unlike Eagle, a massive open pit mine, in this case within a portion of the Superior National Forest that has never been mined and located near the Embarrass and Partridge Rivers, which flow in the St. Louis River and then into Lake Superior. U.S. EPA gave the original Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project a failing grade of Environmentally Unsatisfactory – Inadequate; it recently gave the supplemental EIS a minimally passing grade, while noting a number of areas of concern where the SEIS contained inadequate information.
As a recent article describes, the sponsoring company, PolyMet Mining, has never mined a marketable ounce of ore in its 33-year life, while posting zero revenue and accruing nearly $100 million in losses.
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