Marquette Monthly article: "No Pure Michigan without pure water"

MARQUETTE -- The November 2009 Marquette Monthly's feature article, titled "There can be no Pure Michigan without pure water," discusses the present potential threat to the Great Lakes watershed by proposed sulfide and uranium mining.

The article, written by Babette Welch, co-founder of Save the Wild U.P., explains how Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) contaminates water irreversibly and also how uranium mining can contaminate drinking water.

"Once AMD begins, virtually nothing can stop it," Welch writes, citing statistics from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stating the role of AMD in contaminating the headwaters of more than forty percent of western watersheds.

Welch also points out that the Jacobsville sandstone formation at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula is now being explored for uranium, which has been found in private wells in the Keweenaw at a level that is already the EPA maximum allowable concentration for drinking water.

The article notes a statewide ballot initiative led by MIWater.org is now attempting to obtain 450,000 signatures to allow Michigan voters to strengthen Michigan's law governing uranium and sulfide mining in order to protect Michigan's water and the Great Lakes basin.

Welch says, contrary to rumors or fears, the ballot proposal aims to protect water from sulfide and uranium mining by prohibiting this type of mining activity within 2,000 feet of surface water in Michigan.

"This is a common sense law to protect the water of the Great Lakes and make the mining industry responsible for respecting water. It has been written explicitly to ensure existing and future oxide-based iron ore mining -- our true heritage -- is not impacted. Thus, the long-term iron mining jobs stay right here in Michigan," she writes.

Welch also notes the proposed sulfide mines, such as Rio Tinto / Kennecott's Eagle Project, emphasize jobs, much needed by Michiganders, but do not talk about the important role of robots in modern mining.

"There will be some jobs if the proposed mines go through, but modern mining, like many industrial processes, employs far fewer people than last century. The few jobs primarily go to technical experts or robots," Welch says.

The entire article, along with testimonies from knowledgeable sources on the importance Great Lakes water -- "Voices Around the Great Lakes Basin" -- is available in the printed version of the November Marquette Monthly -- a free publication available in local restaurants, cafés, art galleries, grocery stores, etc. An abbreviated version of the article is available on line.

Click here to read the shortened online version of the article.

Editor's Notes:
See also the Nov. 12, 2009, article, "Legislators Become The Mouthpiece For Pro-Mine Propaganda," on Save the Wild UP. The article refers to Michigan legislators' endorsement of a recent press release that makes erroneous statements about the proposed ballot initiative to protect Michigan water.

Visit savethewildup.org for more information on sulfide mining and AMD.