Canoe for Clean Water
Two dozen people turned out for the "Canoe for Clean Water" Saturday, June 24th, 2006 at Birch Lake near Ely. Most paddlers were from northeast Minnesota, the youngest was 14 and the oldest over 80. The event was held to educate people about sulfide mining and call attention to this threat to clean water.
Three of the paddlers had also skied out there this winter. Two counter-protesters were at the boat launch with a sign that read, "Welcome Miners--Miller Beer". They had a truck with a sign for a Texas drilling company. The paddlers were welcomed by the volunteer campground host.
The flotilla paddled out to the site of one of the two proposed sulfide mines (copper, nickel, palladium) on the shore of the lake near Bob's Bay, the first site of sulfuric acid mine drainage in MN. That pollution was from the overburden of the Dunka Iron mine. Birch Lake is in the Rainy River watershed which includes much of the BWCAW. The sulfur in this type of rock reacts when exposed to air to form sulfuric acid, a water pollutant that kills the small critters in the food chain of fish, wildlife and people. This type of mine is new to Minnesota and has significantly greater environmental risks than the long-established taconite mining.
Canoeists visit proposed sulfide mine site at Birch Lake near Ely.