[Editor's Note: This article appeared as a letter to the editor in The Peshtigo Times on Dec. 29, 2020. It is reprinted here with permission.]
By Al Gedicks*
A recent report from the consulting firm ERM noted that the engineering causes of tailings dam failures are well known but warned that the organizational and human causes of tailings dam failures are just as significant (www.erm.com/insights/navigating-the-esg-of-tailings-management/).
ERM has reviewed the incident reports of 11 major dam failures that have occurred in the last 12 years. They concluded that "basic organizational and human factors, such as budgeting, operational leadership, safety and risk culture, and competence, played a significant role in each."
This raises a serious concern about Aquila’s ability to manage the construction, operation, monitoring and emergency action plan for their proposed tailings dam. Aquila’s dam safety application states that "if any potential failure were to develop, it would be detected at an early stage followed by prompt corrective action and remediation. As such, tailings and water would never reach lands adjacent to the Project or the Menominee River."
Why should the public trust Aquila’s ability to closely monitor all aspects of tailings dam safety when it has failed to comply with the minimal legal requirements for conducting business in the state of Wisconsin? According to the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Aquila’s registration to conduct business in Wisconsin was revoked on October 21, 2015, because it failed to file annual reports and pay fees. The Sierra Club of Wisconsin has filed a complaint with the DFI showing that Aquila has conducted business on multiple occasions from 2015 through at least 2019 despite the revocation. Aquila either controls or owns two mineral deposits in Wisconsin in Marathon and Taylor counties.
Under state law, Aquila cannot continue to conduct business until it pays all outstanding fees, a fine, and must reapply for authorization to conduct business as a foreign corporation.
"This complaint shows that Aquila Resources can’t be trusted to follow Wisconsin law. Will Aquila Resources respect Michigan law if it gains permits for the Back Forty mine proposal in Michigan along the Menominee River? Michigan and Wisconsin residents along the Menominee River and downstream now have more reason to doubt the promises of this company," said David Blouin, State Mining Committee Chair.
When it comes to evaluating the risk of a tailings dam failure and the release of toxic mine tailings into the Menominee River, the public requires more than empty promises of dam safety oversight. Aquila’s track record to date provides no such assurance.**
* Guest author Al Gedicks is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Executive Secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council. He is the author of Resource Rebels: Native Challenges to Mining and Oil Corporations, South End Press, 2001.
** Professor Gedicks will give a presentation on the current status of the "Back Forty Mine" as proposed by the Canadian company Aquila Resources at 7:30 p.m. (ET)/6:30 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday, Feb. 16, via Zoom. Opposed by numerous counties, tribal governments, and a host of environmental organizations, the proposed mine construction was recently stalled when a Michigan judge overturned Aquila’s wetland permit. Find out why the Back Forty name is very misleading and why this proposed mine would be a threat to the Menominee River, which flows into Green Bay just a few miles away from Door County peninsula. What are Aquila Resources' options now that the wetland permit is overturned?
Get a full update and have your questions answered at this online event. Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/professor-al-gedicks-to-provide-the-latest-update-on-the-back-forty-mine-tickets-137879771107
You will receive a Zoom link a week before the event and a reminder the day before the event.
Read about the judge's decision to deny the wetland permit here.
Inset photo: Al Gedicks speaks out against the Back 40 mining project during one of the public hearings on permits held in Stephenson, Michigan. (Keweenaw Now file photo)
UPDATE: Dale Burie, President of the Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River is asking for your help. Aquila Resources has submitted their application to EGLE of Michigan for their Tailings Dam Permit using the "Upstream" method for their tailings dam. The Upstream Method is the most vulnerable method to failure. Failure of this type of dam would be a sure recipe for disaster for the Menominee River. The Coalition is requesting all environmental groups and their members to go to http://www.jointherivercoalition.org and click the "Blue" button on the home page, which will open up the page for you to add your information and comment on the objection to the suggested "Upstream Method" that Aquila Resources has made in their application to EGLE. When you click on the "submit" button at the end of the page it will be forwarded to all the decision makers listed on the page.
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