MARQUETTE -- The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) has proposed a law to assert responsible local control over mining practices and create one of the most stringent mining laws in the world.
In an article in the March 2009 issue of Save the Wild UP's
The Splash, titled "KBIC Law Would Ensure Protection," Gabriel Caplett, a Marquette County-based freelance writer, reports that, if approved, the KBIC ordinance would be stricter than Michigan's Part 632 regulations for nonferrous metallic sulfide mining and even stricter than Wisconsin's moratorium on sulfide mining.
"If the KBIC ordinance passes," Caplett writes, "a mining company will have to prove that it has successfully operated a mine, similar in design and location to that proposed, without polluting groundwater or surface water, degrading the environment, natural resources, health or welfare of the public or culturally significant sites for at least 10 years and that the same mine has been closed, and has followed the same criteria, for a period of at least 20 years."*
Two other articles by Caplett in
The Splash discuss the economic and health effects of mining such as the proposed sulfide mining Eagle Project of Rio Tinto/Kennecott.
In "Economist: U.P. Economy No Longer Built Around Mining," Caplett quotes economist Thomas M. Power on the fact that Minnesota's historical dependence on metal mining is not a good guide for a more diversified economy needed today. Caplett relates Power's comments to the present "promises" of jobs by Rio Tinto/Kennecott for their proposed sulfide mine near Marquette.
"According to Power," Caplett writes, "part of an intelligent economic strategy is recognizing that protection of the environment is a central component of an area's 'economic development strategy.'"**
Caplett's third article, "Kennecott's Cherry Avoids Mention of Severe Pollution and Health Hazards at Humboldt Plant," discusses a presentation by Jon Chery, Rio Tinto's Eagle Project manager, at a Jan. 12 public meeting about Kennecott's plans for disposing of mine tailings at Humboldt Mill. These include depositing waste material into a pit on-site and discharging treated wastewater into wetlands that feed into the Escanaba River. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has said mercury discharges may be a serious issue at this site. Some Humboldt Township residents at the meeting said previous milling by the Callahan Mining Company left part of the community with undrinkable well water.
"Cherry was unable to explain which toxic chemicals were planned for the milling process," Caplett writes. ***
An article by Teresa Bertossi of Save the Wild UP, "How Industry Decisions Influence Your Health," points out several of the health risks posed by Acid Mine Drainage, which can cause heavy metals (aluminum, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc) to pollute water that may be consumed by humans or fish. In fact, she writes, 117 physicians in the Marquette area, concerned about health risks, have signed a resolution opposing the proposed Rio Tinto/Kennecott sulfide mine.*
In this same current issue of
The Splash is a letter from Michelle Halley, Attorney for the Lake Superior Project of the National Wildlife Federation.
"There is no doubt that Kennecott seeks to develop a sulfide mining district in the Lake Superior basin spanning from the UP all the way into northern Minnesota. The thorough and strong record we developed during the contested case hearing last summer shows that the proposed Eagle Mine is unsafe," Halley writes.
Halley points out that the Eagle Mine, if approved, would lead to other mines now in the planning stages for the Western U.P., including at least six more sulfide mine prospects west of the Salmon Trout River.
"The Great Lakes are at a crossroads, and the largest source of fresh water on our planet is imperiled," she writes. "It is likely that acid mine drainage from metallic sulfide would irreversibly foul rivers and wetlands near each site with heavy metals and toxic runoff, which would ultimately flow into Lake Superior or Lake Michigan. Once begun, acid mine drainage is impossible to contain or reverse. Kennecott has already violated Michigan's laws by pumping water out of the Salmon Trout River, and I don't expect it to stop with one violation if sulfide mining takes hold."****
The Editorial section of The Splash includes a moving article, "Words of Wisdom from a Miner's Daughter," by Carol "Junebug" Cook, one of 11 children born to a coal mining family. Cook remembers the effect on her community when the mines shut down in her West Virginia town of Hiawatha. Her family eventually moved to lower Michigan when her father, who suffered from black lung disease, got a job with the auto industry. She talks about returning to her beloved West Virginia mountain, destroyed by mining, and seeing "rivers that were a reddish color."*****
Cook says she visits the U.P. because her daughter lives here. She calls it "heaven, with its trees, wildlife, and clean water."
Cook adds, "It's Michigan's one-of-a-kind place. We need to keep its waters pure, so our children can stay healthy and happy."
Save the Wild UP's latest edition of
The Splash, a newsletter reporting the real risks of sulfide and uranium mining, is published as an insert in the March 2009 issue of the
Marquette Monthly, available for free in various restaurants and businesses here in the Keweenaw.
Click here to read
The Splash on line in pdf format.
Editor's Notes:*See page 1 of The Splash.
** This article is on page 2 of The Splash.*** This article is on page 3 of The Splash.**** Read Michelle Halley's complete letter on page 9 of The Splash.***** See pp. 10-12 of The Splash for Editorials and learn how you can contribute your own mining story to Save the Wild UP.
This quilt, on display in the Youth Arts Exhibit at the Community Arts Center in Hancock, is a group project. (Photos © 2009 Gustavo Bourdieu)
Zachery Saquette of Baraga proudly points out his work of art on display in the exhibit. A closer view of it is below.
Zachery Saquette of Baraga proudly points out his work of art on display in the exhibit. A closer view of it is below.
