Sulfide mine opponents sue MDEQ for issuing illegal permits

MARQUETTE -- One week after a controversial decision by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to permit a sulfide mine in the central Upper Peninsula, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Huron Mountain Club and Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve filed, on Dec. 21, 2007, a contested case petition and a lawsuit against the MDEQ as the first step in a legal challenge to halt the mine.

"The opponents of the mine have presented MDEQ with over 1000 pages of unequivocal evidence that Kennecott’s proposed sulfide mine does not meet the state’s legal requirements and would result in profound pollution, impairment and destruction of air, water and other natural resources," Michelle Halley, attorney for NWF and the other co-petitioners explained. "The MDEQ has issued permits that are based upon defective, inadequate and incomplete applications and are therefore illegal," she added.

Read the rest of this press release on Save the Wild UP.
Read the Marquette Mining Journal article.

Read also the article, "Rio Tinto Poised to Open 6 More Projects on the Yellow Dog Plains" concerning plans by Rio Tinto (Kennecott's parent company) to expand its mining operations in the U.P. beyond the current Eagle Project in order to meet demands for nickel, especially from China.

See also other related articles on Save the Wild UP, including Congressman Bart Stupak's statement expressing his disappointment at the DEQ decision to permit the Eagle Project sulfide mine near Marquette.
Photo: A fall 2006 view of the Salmon Trout River, which flows through an area proposed for Kennecott Minerals' Eagle Project sulfide mine. The river contains a rare population of Coaster Brook Trout. (Photo © 2007 and courtesy lexup at Save the Wild UP. Reprinted with permission.)