For more information contact:
John Doberstein (218) 522- 0595
Clyde Hanson (612) 418-1192
northstar.sierraclub.org/mining
Sierra Club Asks PolyMet Mining to Correct Public Statements
Environmental risks underplayed and promoted start-up date of mine ignores hold by State of Minnesota on draft EIS publication date.Statements of Clyde Hanson and John Doberstein, Sierra Club Mining Without Harm Campaign, regarding the proposed start-up PolyMet Mining's NorthMet mine in Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota.
Statement of John Doberstein, co-chair of the Mining Without Harm Campaign of the Sierra Club North Star Chapter:
The North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club is very concerned about the potential risk to our environment and public health from the proposed NorthMet open pit copper mine near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. At a minimum, we are asking PolyMet Mining, Inc. to more accurately portray the level of public concern and environmental risks of the proposed mine and to correct its public statements about the start-up date of their proposed mine.
We have been reading PolyMet's public comments and are concerned that potential investors are not getting a true picture of the risks of the project. Government agencies may not approve the mine, or they could require necessary pollution prevention and reclamation that will make it unprofitable. Potential investors also need to know that public opposition is growing as Minnesotans learn metallic sulfide mining is more harmful and risky than the taconite mining they are familiar with.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) notified Sierra Club on Oct. 24 that PolyMet's draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which was expected November 2006, is being delayed and that a new completion date will not even be known until January 2007.
Only 28 of 90 expected technical reports (31%) for the EIS were completed by Oct. 24, yet PolyMet asserted the mine will be operating in 2008 in an Oct. 24 news release and a fact sheet on the polymetmining.com web site, dated Oct. 2006 and accessed Oct. 30. "The permit to mine is expected [to be approved] by the third quarter of 2007. That's when we can start building the hydromet autoclave facility… One year later we will be set to go into operation mode." (Star Tribune, Nov. 5)
The North Star chapter of the Sierra Club's Mining Without Harm Campaign wants to makes sure Minnesotans are not guinea pigs for testing risky mining practices with high environmental and human health costs. Campaign volunteers are also calling for protection of taxpayers from paying for expensive and uncertain pollution responses for generations after the mine is closed. The most active sulfide mining companies in Minnesota have never operated a mine and have inadequate financial reserves, so preventing such mines is fiscally and environmentally responsible.
Statement of Clyde Hanson, Mining Without Harm Campaign co-chair
Citizens of northeast Minnesota are asking for solid science to be completed before DNR issues a permit for this type of mine. We expect five years of humidity-cell testing of samples of the mine's rock to determine its potential to create acid mine drainage; only 14 months have been completed so far. DNR studies show it often takes years before the acid appears that then continues to pollute rivers and aquifers for generations.
Other tests are needed to determine if toxic metals will be leached into surface and ground waters, potentially violating water quality standards and threatening human health and the safety of eating locally caught fish. The cumulative impact of proposed coal-gasification, steel plants and the metallic sulfide processing on the area's pristine air over the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and regional National Parks is expected to be significant.
The Minnesota Regional Copper-Nickel Study (State Planning Agency, 1979) concluded that sensitive waters should not be subjected to acid drainage, asbestos-like fibers, or toxic metal leaching, but the adopted protections are inadequate. Concerned citizens are calling for expanded zones where metallic sulfide minerals would not be mined such as in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness or Lake Superior watersheds. Drinking water is expected to soon become as valuable as petroleum and Minnesota needs to protect its abundant, but threatened waters.
Other published claims by PolyMet representatives about the mine start-up date: "If the project continues on schedule, commercial production could start in the second half of 2008" (Mesabi Daily News, Oct. 25, 2006). "Permits to dig the mine pit, restart the idled LTV taconite plant to process the copper, fill wetlands, and to release wastewater from the site could be issued late next year. Production could begin in late 2008…" (Duluth News Tribune, Oct. 22, 2006). "A draft Environmental Impact Statement is due out in October or November. A final EIS could be complete in April 2007 (Duluth News Tribune, Sept. 25, 2006).
Potential investors in proposed metallic sulfide mines in Minnesota should review these web sites for independent risk and schedule information: