Aquila Resources Inc. (fka AQARF)

[Saving Grace]

Friday, November 17, 2017 10:00 PM
MENOMINEE — Aquila Resources has resubmitted its wetlands, lakes and streams permit application to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for the Back Forty Mine.

Aquila had re-filed (after originally submitting last January) the permit application in October, but more information was needed by the MDEQ. This is the final permit needed in Aquila’s application process.

Kristi Wilson, environmental quality specialist with MDEQ’s Water Resources Division, said it should take around three weeks for the MDEQ to review Aquila’s submission.

Wilson said she hadn’t begun to look into the submission yet, but normally a similar submission is 10 pages long, while Aquila’s is somewhere around 2,000 pages.

“There’s nothing usual about this,” she said.

Once the wetlands application is deemed administratively complete, then comes public notice. A requirement of the permit process is a public hearing held by MDEQ. This will be done within 60 days of the final application’s completion.

Public comment on the impact of regulated aquatic resources will be considered by MDEQ at this stage in the process.

In regards to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin’s intent to sue, Wilson said on behalf of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, they are not commenting on the issue. But, on whether the tribe’s intent to sue changes anything for the MDEQ and Aquila moving forward with the Back Forty Mine, Wilson said, “it changes nothing for us.”

http://ehextra.com/Content/News/News-Articles/Article/Aquila-resubmits-permit-application/12/35/43636