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July
30, 2007 Contact: Hugh
McDiarmid Jr., Brian
Beauchamp, MI League of Conservation Voters Education Fund: 734-904-9915 Marvin
Roberson, Sierra Club Proposed Mine Approval Puts U.P. Resources in
Jeopardy MDEQ preliminary decision ignores gaping holes
in mine plan Preliminary approval
for a flawed Upper Peninsula nickel mine granted today by state regulators
ignores gaping shortcomings in the mining safety plan and puts the region’s
economy and natural resources at risk, said the Michigan Environmental Council,
Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and the Sierra
Club’s Michigan Chapter. The groups contend
that Kennecott Minerals Corporation has not demonstrated it can mine without
wrecking area rivers and groundwater. “This is the
first of what may be an influx of applications to do this new and dangerous
type of mining in the U.P.” said Michigan Environmental Council Spokesman
Hugh McDiarmid Jr. “It’s gambling the future of this entire region
of the U.P. for the payoff of a few dozen temporary jobs. When the minerals are
gone, so will the London-based mining company, so it’s important we hold
them to the highest environmental standards. “But instead of
setting tough standards to protect water quality and public health, the
state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) seems content to allow
vague assurances for parts of this plan rather than rock-solid specifics.
They’re setting the bar too low.” The mine would be the
first in the U.P.’s modern era to drill in a sulfide rock formation. That
type of rock, when brought to the surface, leaches sulfuric acid and toxic heavy
metals. If handled improperly, the pollutants could devastate the pristine
headwaters of the Sulfide mines
elsewhere have a dark legacy of resource degradation, collapse, heavy-metal
pollution, and undetected and untreatable failures of safety liners and
monitoring equipment.
The review process by
the MDEQ has been plagued with missteps and errors. The
process was halted in March when environmental groups discovered that MDEQ had
not made key mining safety documents available to the public. Those documents
questioned the safety of the mine’s key support structure. "It's
disappointing that we're right back to where we started months ago,” said
Brian Beauchamp, spokesman for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters
Education Fund. “Preliminary approval to move forward with a permit for
this mine is flawed and puts ### |