Sulfide Mining and the Soul of Michigan

Visit West Virginia (4.00 / 2)

to see the effects of sulfuric acid pollution on rivers.  Pretty disturbing to be on a scenic kayaking trip and come face to face with hundreds of boulders permanently stained orange, like someone poured orange juice concentrate all over them.  The stuff kills fish on contact.

Wisconsin battled the Exxon gold mine for at least ten years, managing to stall the project until the price of gold went down and it was no longer economically viable, especially with all the sunk costs of litigation.  The land ended up being sold to the Menominee Nation.  I hope they take good care of it and don't decide to dabble in mining operations themselves, because they're beyond regulation by the state.

Michigan's sufide mining statute was hastily signed into law on December 29, 2004, less than two months after Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba) intro'd it on November 8.  The legislative history shows that the original bill gave far more oversight over sulfide mining to the legislature than to the DEQ. The version as passed gives ALL authority to DEQ to determine standards for operating such a mine and what penalties should be issued if violations occurred.  In a rare example of bipartisanship doing its job, I think Casperson was totally the good guy here--he intro'd a good bill, but the toothless version was the best he could get his fellow republicans to agree to.

Anyone who loves Michigan's outdoors should plan on participating in the public comment process and do everything they can to spread the word to others to do the same.  Maybe if enough people yell loudly enough, DEQ will think twice about permitting this mess.

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by: eartha651 @ Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 13:59:13 PM UTC

Silfide mining (4.00 / 2)

I am really happy to see someone else bring this issue up in this blog.  And far more eloquently than I did a couple of weeks ago.

The mineral extraction industry in Michigan is very much like the oil and gas industry--able to ruin wide swaths of the environment in very short order and pretty much regulated by the industry itself.  The MDEQ Office of Geological Survey is not known as being particularly environmentally friendly.  There is lip service and loud protestation from the DEQ, but the fact of the matter is that extractive industries pretty much do what they want.

And don't forget, any of the jobs touted as being created by the Kennecott mine are temporary--they will disappear in a few years as the mineral deposits are exhausted.

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by: oldwarden @ Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 14:16:14 PM UTC

Stop Sulfide Mining in Only 5 Minutes (4.00 / 2)

Speak out against the Kennecott Sulfide Mining proposal and keep Michigan's natural environment free from this very real and serious threat.

We've done all the work for you, all you need to do is click below and take 5 short minutes out of your day to protect all that we cherish here in Michigan.

I want to stop sulfide mining!

Committed to Protecting Michigan's natural environment from the threat of Sulfide Mining.

SavetheWildUP.org

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by: SaveTheWildUP @ Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 14:26:16 PM UTC

Kennecott (4.00 / 2)

Kennecott Mining has a history of leaving behind devastation wherever they go.  In Utah and Nevada, cyanide heap leach mining has left behind large lakes of cyanide contaminated water that annually kill thousands of migratory waterfowl.  Kennecott uses a cyanide solution to chemically extract gold dust from massive piles of crushed ore.  The cyanide solution drains into retention ponds which eventually become fairly large lakes containing millions of gallons of poisonous water. 

Kennecott is not a responsible corporate citizen, and they should not be allowed to do business anywhere near our drinking water supply.

Thanks Dave for your efforts.

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by: Jerome Alicki @ Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 17:09:35 PM UTC

Thank you from a born Yooper (4.00 / 2)

The Yellow Dog Plains are raw and rustic, relatively untouched except for dirt logging roads and sporadic areas cleared by logging.  They overlook the small town of Big Bay, next to Lake Independence and Lake Superior.  I know them well; my mother's family hails from Big Bay and a number of them still live in the immediate area.

I've picked many wild blue berries on the Plains in early August heat, having been hustled out there not long after dawn many mornings during summer vacations as a kid.  And I've dabbled in creek beds there, watching for the little critters that are only found in brooks.  The entire area is a watershed for small towns and Marquette, draining eventually towards Lake Superior.

Last summer I spent some time watching for Kirtland Warblers in the area around the intended mine.  The area is exactly the kind of habitat they'd like, jack pine stands bordering open brushy areas.  I intend to spend time watching for them again this year, especially with the odd winter we've had since it may encourge he warblers to move to different breeding grounds.  Finding Kirtland warblers might change the entire equation, but it's going to take an investment of time and patience.  Time we may not have.

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by: Rayne @ Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 19:29:27 PM UTC

Portrait of the Plains (4.00 / 1)

Pictures taken this summer on and around the Yellow Dog Plains, the subject of the blog post here.

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by: Rayne @ Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 02:53:50 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Fantastic article Dave! (4.00 / 2)

...and great comments all. In my opinion, this is an issue that should unite us all. Full disclosure: My company built the new web site for Save the Wild UP. I also have substantially less than one iota of trust in the claims of Kennecott, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, a mega-national company that is one of the largest polluters in the world. And I like to swim and fish and hike along beaches and rivers that are not choked with dead fish or stained with toxic pollution.

Wisconsin "stopped" metallic sulfide mining by relatively simple standard of "show us a non-polluting metallic sulfide mine." (details)

According to Save the Wild UP:

The root of major dissent to the metallic sulfide mine on the Yellow Dog Plains can be traced to one source - Acid Mine Drainage. This unavoidable and destructive by-product of the sulfide mining process has been deemed one of the most serious threats to water quality by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA says this about Acid Mine Drainage:

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is currently the main pollutant of surface water in the mid-Atlantic region. AMD is caused when water flows over or through sulfur-bearing materials forming solutions of net acidity. AMD comes mainly from abandoned coal mines and currently active mining. AMD degrades more than 4,500 stream miles in the mid-Atlantic region with the loss of aquatic life, and restricts stream use for recreation, public drinking water and industrial water supplies...

A region impacted by acid mine drainage often has a decline in valued recreational fish species such as trout as well as a general decline in outdoor recreation and tourism along with contamination of groundwater drinking supplies

To me, that doesn't scream "the answer to Michigan's economic problems".

There has NEVER been a metallic sulfide mine that has failed to pollute its watershed, tourism is Michigan's #2 industry, and as this proposed mine is far, far from the only mine that will be built if we approve it (link), I have to say that the correct answer is This mine screams "economic problems for Michigan.

Get involved and protect Michigan's legacy, Michigan's treasure, Michigan's water.

Absolute Michigan, All Michigan, All the Time

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by: farlane @ Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 23:02:10 PM UTC

united Michiganders for the environment (4.00 / 1)

This seems to be one topic that is uniting all Michiganders. I have read about as much about this topic in the past 6 weeks as one could possibly do. It is extraordinarily clear that citizens of Michigan do not want this mine to operate in this beautiful area -- particularly those who are familiar with the landscape of the Yellow Dog Plains and the dangers of sulfid mining.

The mining operation would benefit very few people and potentially cause great harm to Michigan's natural resources. Kennecott's profits would be enormous, but the profits would leave our state -- Kennecott is a foreign company. But that is really not the issue, rather, that this precious natural wilderness needs to be protected. If it were contaminted as a result of sulfide mining, the effects would last indefinately.

Everyone should contact their state reprentatives to encourage Gov. Granholm to not allow this mine to operate underneath the Salmon-Trout River.

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by: lois90218 @ Sat Feb 17, 2007 at 17:38:44 PM UTC