Eagle Rock, a Native American sacred site on the Yellow Dog Plains near Marquette, was the destination of the Protect the Earth Walk on Sunday, Aug. 2. More than 170 people participated in the event to show opposition to Kennecott-Rio Tinto's proposed "Eagle" Project sulfide mine. (Photos by Keweenaw Now unless otherwise indicated) MARQUETTE -- Last weekend, Aug. 1-2, "Protect the Earth 2009," the second annual Great Lakes Community Gathering of people opposed to metallic sulfide and uranium mining in the Upper Peninsula and nearby Great Lakes states, offered workshops with expert speakers; musical entertainment; Native American dance, drumming and spiritual ceremonies; and a two-mile walk to Eagle Rock. This Native American sacred site is a proposed target of the "Eagle" Project, Kennecott-Rio Tinto's potential metallic sulfide mine on the Yellow Dog Plains near Marquette.
The Walk began here at a bridge over the Yellow Dog River, one of the streams that could be polluted by acid mine drainage should the sulfide mine be finally approved.Following the program at Eagle Rock, family and friends of the late Fred Rydholm, local historian and opponent of the mining, gathered to honor him with testimonials.
Walkers, young and old, begin the two-mile trek to Eagle Rock on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009.Keweenaw Now was privileged to be present at these events. This is the first in a two-part article on "Protect the Earth 2009."
Saturday's events were held in the Whitman Building on the campus of Northern Michigan University.
Although participants had to choose between two simultaneous presentations for each of four time slots, they had an opportunity to meet the speakers, exchange ideas and ask questions during the break times and again during the walk to Eagle Rock on Sunday.
"It was a wonderful weekend," said Eric Hansen -- prize-winning author, conservation advocate and hiker, who gave a slide presentation of his photos of the Upper Peninsula titled "Our Spiritual Homeland (An Iconic Landscape and Its Regional Magnetic Power)."
"These are our heroes," he said of his fellow presenters, several of whom are conservation and environmental activists.
Hansen himself has written articles pointing out the dangers that metallic sulfide mining poses to groundwater, streams and lakes in both Michigan and Wisconsin. In his July 27, 2008, article, "Headwaters are no place for toxic new mining," published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he mentions the Kennecott-Rio Tinto proposed sulfide mine for Marquette and Baraga counties as well as the Aquila Resources project known as the "Back 40."
Eric Hansen, prize-winning author and hiker, chats with Keweenaw Now's editor during the Aug. 2, 2009, Walk to Eagle Rock.While giving credit to Wisconsinites for the victory against the Crandon mine and the present Wisconsin moratorium on sulfide mining, he notes this potential "Back 40 mining site "is just a stone’s throw from the Menominee River and the Wisconsin border."*
The message from Hansen, and from other speakers at the workshop, was that protecting the earth goes beyond individual state or provincial borders. Concerned citizens need to work together, share experiences, combine their efforts and communicate with both federal and state representatives.
Tim DeChristopher: "The Case for Extremism"
One of the youngest voices among the workshop speakers was that of Tim DeChristopher, a University of Utah student and conservation activist, who is presently facing a trial for his acts of civil disobedience and a possible prison sentence if convicted.
In his presentation, "The Case for Extremism," DeChristopher said the paradigm of compromise, centrism, negotiation, discussion in terms of economics rather than moral arguments, etc., needs to be shifted towards one of "extremism" -- where one can take a much stronger stance and be less compromising in trying to protect something.
Tim DeChristopher, a University of Utah student, speaks on "The Case for Extremism" during the Aug. 1 Protect the Earth workshops at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. (Photo © 2009 and courtesy Gabriel Caplett)"When we compromise (with corporations that are trying to destroy something) we're always taking smaller steps backwards," he said, "and we're kind of getting to this point where we don't have much backwards to go."
DeChristopher gave the early women's movement as an example of changing from compromises (in order not to offend men) to stronger protest movements in front of the White House where they got arrested and made more progress in a short time.
"What people feel is extreme is what wakes them up," he noted. "It's hard to tip the scales from the middle."
DeChristopher said extremism is needed now because it is appropriate for the problems we face: catastrophic climate change, peak oil, water issues.
"These are literally life-or-death issues. Some of them are civilization-threatening issues," he said.
If we're trying to show people that these are life-or-death issues, but we don't put ourselves on the line for them, people aren't going to be inspired to fight for them, he explained. DeChristopher put himself on the line for the climate crisis when he disrupted an illegitimate oil and gas lease auction of public land in Utah toward the end of the Bush administration last December. He has been charged with two felonies for his civil disobedience.
DeChristopher noted that young people are not hopeful when environmental groups ask them to do something easy -- "one-click activism." They're more likely to be hopeful of change if they're asked to do something bold. He gave the example of students his group asked to go to Washington, D.C., to close down a coal-fired power plant, risking arrest; and he showed a short film of this enthusiastic protest.
After showing a short film about acts of his civil disobedience and the support he's received for his efforts to call attention to the crisis of climate change, Tim DeChristopher fields questions from members of the audience during his workshop session at Northern Michigan University Aug. 1, 2009.The fact that these direct-action protests now include "respectable" writers, scientists and politicians gives him hope, DeChristopher added.
To a question on his upcoming trial, DeChristopher answered, "We really want to put climate change on trial. We want to establish that the threat of climate change creates a greater moral imperative than just following the law as it exists right now."
Jon Saari, president of UPEC (Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition), commented to DeChristopher that his civility is a strong point. Saari noted the young economics student's calm, honest demeanor must have impressed a conservative congressman, whose views were obviously not sympathetic to environmentalists, to invite DeChristopher to speak.
Eric Hansen, also in the audience during DeChristopher's talk, noted activists need to remind themselves of the victories of citizens' campaigns of the past, such as the victory of citizens of Wisconsin who "stared down Exxon" to prevent the (Crandon) sulfide mine and the success of the Porcupine Mountains campaign in 1944.
"When we see these other things and remind ourselves, then we realize that yes we can do this. The corporate media is not going to remind us of our power," Hansen said.
Before going into the auction, DeChristopher said, he had made a conscious decision to act as if he wasn't helpless. When he realized that he was risking jail by bidding money he didn't have in order to raise the bids on land he didn't want to be sold for fossil fuels, he decided he could live with going to jail, but could not, in conscience, pass up the opportunity to do something to combat climate change -- an issue he feels threatens the survival of his and future generations.
He also cited Martin Luther King's four steps of direct action: first, educate yourself to be sure you know what the problem is; second, try to negotiate; third, purify yourself; and fourth, take action. DeChristopher noted that step of self-purification is often overlooked -- that is, approaching the action from a very grounded and honest kind of perspective and having facts to defend the action against attacks.**
Wisconsin group files lawsuit on illegal water pollution in Flambeau Mine
A large crowd attended the presentation "Illegal Water Pollution at the Flambeau Mine," by Laura Furtman of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council.
Furtman, a pharmacist, gave a power-point presentation showing how Kennecott-Rio Tinto's partially reclaimed Flambeau Mine site near Ladysmith, Wis., which the mining company cites as a success, is actually polluting a stream that leads to the Flambeau River.
Laura Furtman speaks about the water pollution from the "reclaimed" Flambeau Mine near Ladysmith, Wis., that Kennecott Minerals terms a "success." Furtman, Professor Al Gedicks of the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse and the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council (WRPC) are plaintiffs in a lawsuit now being filed against Kennecott Minerals and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on the basis of this illegal water pollution.
Gedicks, WRPC’s executive secretary, who also spoke during the Protect the Earth workshops on Aug. 1 and at Eagle Rock on Aug. 2, is quoted in WRPC's press release on the lawsuit: "It appears that FMC (Flambeau Mining Co., a subsidiary of Kennecott Minerals) has been glossing over its own data in order to claim that the Flambeau Mine is an environmental success story, when the data actually shows that the Mine is causing pollution just as we had predicted before it was permitted by the DNR back in 1991. We are pursuing this case now in order to bring out the truth and hold both FMC and the DNR legally accountable for the damage being done to our environment by The Flambeau Mine."
The Flambeau Mine, an open-pit metallic sulfide mine (for copper, gold and silver), operated between 1993 and 1997 in northern Wisconsin.
"They left behind 4 million tons of low-sulfur waste rock -- and the company defined that as being waste rock containing one percent or less sulfur," Furtman noted. "They also left behind 4.5 million tons of high-sulfur waste rock. A lot of that rock contained 50 percent or more sulfites, mostly pyrite."
Furtman showed slides -- diagrams and aerial photos -- showing how close the mine pit was to the Flambeau River -- within 150 feet of the river (the Company had to get a DNR variance to put it that close, she said).
During the mining years they stored the high-sulfur and low-sulfur waste rock on two separate piles and had a water treatment plant to deal with polluted water, she explained. Polluted water from the pit and polluted runoff from the ore-crusher area went into separate ponds and then into the water treatment plant. From there it went into the Flambeau River. Polluted sludge that the wastewater treatment plant removed went on top of the high-sulfur waste rock stockpile.
"At the end of mining everything got shoved into the pit -- without a liner," Furtman said. "Now all that same stuff is still in the pit."
She pointed out the company's own diagrams show the direction the groundwater flow is through the pit, toward the river.
The company back-filled the pit, put grass on top of it and now gives walking tours for unsuspecting people from Michigan and Minnesota to show it off.
"'This is grass over a grave,'"she quoted her mentor, the late Roscoe Churchill, as saying.
Furtman showed also the misinformation in the media that quoted Jon Cherry, project manager for Kennecott's Eagle Project near Marquette, as saying the Flambeau Mine in Wisconsin had no environmental incidents and received a Certificate of Completion.
Laura Furtman showed this slide with a quote from Jon Cherry, project manager for Kennecott's Eagle Project near Marquette, saying the Flambeau Mine had no environmental incidents and the company received a Certificate of Completion indicating it had fulfilled its obligations. Click on photo for larger version.The facts, according to Furtman, are that the company, in May 2007, got partial certification for planting grass over the pit (surface reclamation only).
"That's not the issue (the grass). The issue is the water," Furtman said. "Groundwater contamination was not factored into the decision to give them this partial certificate of completion."
I feel they're misrepresenting this to you," Furtman said.
She noted the certificate didn't deal with groundwater contamination or river monitoring data (e.g., effects on walleye).
The question you need to ask, Furtman said, when the company calls the Flambeau mine successfully reclaimed, is "But what about the water?"
Three scientists analyzed the water from a pond designed to collect runoff from the reclaimed mine -- water that flowed into a stream near the mine, known as Stream C (or named Churchill Creek by Furtman for her friend Roscoe Churchill). In 2008 the copper level in Stream C was found to be 10 times the water quality copper standard set to protect fish. The zinc level was about twice the water quality standard. The scientists also determined water monitoring by the company has been insufficient, since the company hasn't been reporting levels since 2005.
This slide in Laura Furtman's presentation indicates the studies done by three scientists, who analyzed Kennecott's own data on the water. Click on photo for larger version.Furtman pointed out also that Kennecott's own report indicates a low level of life in Stream C, which enters into the Flambeau River. Thus, the scientists concluded that Stream C is being used as a conduit for contaminated water from the mine to the Flambeau River -- without a state discharge permit.***
Speakers, music and film
Other workshop speakers on Saturday included Al Gedicks of the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse, who spoke on "Multicultural Movements"; Lee Sprague, former Ogemaw of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Sierra Club Clean Energy Campaign manager, who discussed "Impacts of Coal-Fired Power Plants on Michigan's Great Lakes"; Stuart Kirsch, author and University of Michigan professor of anthropology, who spoke on "Fighting the Mines in Papua New Guinea"; Kevin Kamps on "Don't Waste Michigan" (Beyond Nuclear); and Mike Collins of the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition, who spoke about "The New Economy."
Musical entertainment on Saturday included Megan Tucker, Anishinaabe Hoop and Fancy Dancer, and folk music played and sung by Bobby "Bullet" St. Germaine, Victor McManemy and Skip Jones.
Megan Tucker, Anishinaabe Hoop and Fancy Dancer, performs a hoop dance during the Aug. 1 Protect the Earth events at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. (Photo © 2009 and courtesy Gabriel Caplett)Victor McManemy entertains with an inspirational folk song during the Protect the Earth music performance Saturday evening, Aug. 1, in Northern Michigan University's Whitman Building. Other musicians pictured are Bobby "Bullet" St. Germaine (in cowboy hat) and Skip Jones. (Video clip by Keweenaw Now)
Save the Wild UP, one of the sponsors of Protect the Earth, presented two movie demos Saturday evening in NMU's Mead Auditorium. One was a repeat showing of Tim DeChristopher's film shown earlier in the day, with clips of his bidding at the Utah auction and the protest at the Washington, D.C., coal-fired power plant. The second film was part of a film in progress, "Yoopers vs. Giant Mining Corporation," by filmmaker and composer Jeff Gibbs, who has worked on films with Michael Moore and who is currently working on a new project with Moore, due out this fall.
Click here for Part 2 of this article, on the Walk to Eagle Rock.
Notes:
* Click here to read Eric Hansen's article, "Headwaters are no place for toxic new mining." See also Hansen's prize-winning 2005 essay, "It was a big trout. A good trout. A good, big trout," which first appeared in the Chicago Tribune. In this essay he describes the U.P.'s rich natural heritage and the threat from sulfide mining. It received first prize for newspaper conservation and environmental writing in the annual Excellence in Craft awards of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. Read more about Eric Hansen on his Web site.
** To learn more about Tim DeChristopher and his organization, Peaceful Uprising, visit http://www.peacefuluprising.org. See a video clip on YouTube of DeChristopher's participation in the Aug. 2 water ceremony at Eagle Rock.
***For more information on the lawsuit against the Flambeau Mine and the work of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, visit the WRPC Web site.
You can also read Kennecott's point of view on their reclamation of the Flambeau Mine on their Web site.
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