State regulators unveiled their forecast Friday of the way Minnesota’s first copper mine would affect the air, water and lives of people in northeastern Minnesota, a document that is expected to escalate an already polarizing debate about what could be a new era of mining in the most beautiful and untouched part of the state.
The release of the environmental impact statement, a dense, 2,200-page document that took five years and cost $22 million, sets the stage for a 90-day public comment period starting Dec. 14 and, potentially, for a much larger debate over Minnesota’s future.
PolyMet Mining Corp., which promises a $650 million investment and 300 to 360 jobs over 20 years, is only the first of many companies lining up to tap one of the world’s largest untouched deposits of copper, nickel and other precious metals lying beneath the forests and lakes of northeast Minnesota. Many on both sides of the issue say the debate in the coming months, which is expected to generate tens of thousands of public comments, will influence how and whether copper mining in the state becomes a reality.