A Bad River Win; Gogebic Taconite Putting Wisconsin Mine on Hold
A Bad River Win; Gogebic Taconite Putting Wisc. Mine on Hold
Gogebic Taconite announced last week that it is closing its office in Hurley, Wisconsin and, for now, putting plans on hold to build a huge open pit iron ore mine in the pristine Penokee Mountains in Northern Wisconsin. The proposed 4.5 mile wide mine would have produced 8 million tons of finished taconite annually, rivaling the huge Hibbing Taconite in Minnesota according to a report in the Duluth Tribune .
The planned area of the Wisconsin mine is located directly over the Great Northern Divide and the Bad River Watershed through which many streams flow directly into Lake Superior and through the famed wild rice beds on the Bad River Ojibwe Reservation. GTACs plans ignited a fiery debate between mining supporters and tribes, local residents and environmentalists.
The mining debate helped create new and surprising alliances between tribal groups and local citizens. Opponents worked to educate county board members and local citizens about the real human cost of the mine as reported by ICTMN.
RELATED: Fighting Mines in Wisconsin: A Radical New Way to Be Radical
Although initially strong mine supporters, the Ashland County board created mining regulations of their own requiring mining companies to address problems such as noise, dust, damage to public roads, etc.
Last summer, the Wisconsin Federation of Tribes took their concerns directly to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asking the agency to use the 404c portion of the Clean Water Act to stop the mine.
RELATED: Gogebic Taconite May Be Backing Off Mining Proposal
Native Alaskans used a similar tactic to stop the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska.
RELATED: Native Alaskans Laud Environmental Protection Agencys Nixing of Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay
Although the EPA made no official move to intervene in the Wisconsin mine, the Pebble Mine action was clearly a concern for GTAC.
In a GTAC company statement, president Bill Williams blamed the EPA and its handling of protection for wetlands as a primary concern. He claimed that the mining location contained more wetlands than the company had initially anticipated.
According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's spokeswoman, Laurel Patrick, said in a statement:
"It's unfortunate that the federal requirements for mitigating wetlands make it cost-prohibitive for Gogebic to move forward at this time. We remain committed to working with companies interested in creating quality, family-supporting jobs in Wisconsin."
Walker came under fire last year when it was learned that he accepted a secret $700,000 donation from GTAC during his recall election in 2012. Under the banner of jobs creation, Walker famously pushed for changes Wisconsin mining laws so that the company could move forward with its plan. GTAC lobbyists created much of the language of the new laws.
RELATED: Wisconsin Endangers a Sacred Tradition
We will continue to investigate the possibility of pursuing a permit to mine the Upson site (in Iron County) but cannot justify maintaining an office in Hurley without a prospect of immediate action, Gogebic said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel .
Mines are like vampires; theyre very hard to kill. The mineral deposit (that attracted GTAC) isnt going away, noted Rich Eggleston, a member of Citizens Concerned about the proposed Penokee Mine.
In efforts to ensure that any future GTAC efforts will face stringent environmental protections, the Bad River tribe recently applied for pristine air status under the federal Clean Air Act according to a report Wisconsin Public Radio .
Meanwhile Bad River Ojibwe reservation community members are thrilled, according to resident Marylu Salawater.
Salawater and her family have been long time opponents to the mine.
We are grateful for the reprieve. We were lulled into taking our resources for granted. Now we know that they need protection, Salawater said
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/03/03/bad-river-win-gogebic-taconite-putting-wisc-mine-hold-159434
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/03/03/bad-river-win-gogebic-taconite-putting-wisc-mine-hold-159434
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A win for us ''radicals''..
GTAC gave $700,000 to walker's recall election but cannot come up with the $20,000 they owe Iron County for a lease of county land for part of the mine.
I had no idea what Taconite was, so I looked it up. Not that anyone cares, but, Taconite is when the iron ore Magnetite is dispersed through a sedimentary rock, either quartzitic, chert, or carbonate. Once considered to be too low in iron content to be used, it is now a viable source of iron. The term was coined by the Minnesota State Geologist.
Proving that in geology, if we don't have a word, we'll make one.
I'm very glad that this pristine area will not be destroyed by mining. Way to go, tribes! YAY!
Also, I wouldn't worry about their abandonment of the mine for the Federal governments wetland restoration regulations. That's double speak for-- it wasn't a good source anyway, and it's too much trouble to fight it. This way, they can make a political statement by placing blame on someone else.
Funny how that works Eva. I guess that they could care less, now that it looks the mine is dead.
You hit it on the head Dowser.
Thanks!
This is open pit mining for taconite in Hibbing MN. This mine and many others in the ''Iron Range'' of Minnesota was once covered by beautiful hardwood trees in adeep pristine forest.
We don't need more in of this in Wisconsin.