Letter to the editor - Mesabi Daily News
It’s time to get PolyMet up and running.
Recently Brad Moore, environmental director for PolyMet, gave an update on the proposed
copper/nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes on the former LTV mine site at the Tuesday lunch
meeting in Ely.
It was good to hear Moore state that PolyMet would be adhering to the same environmental
precautions as the taconite mines currently have to follow. These include the lining of tailing basins and the treatment of their waste
water. This is something that has not been mentioned before.
Iron ore and taconite mining have been a big part of northeastern Minnesota’s economy for more than 100 years. The taconite industry alone has an annual economic impact of $3.1
BILLION. Tourism and timber industries are also very important to Minnesota’s economy, but
together they don’t even match the impact of taconite mining.
Over the years, new and better mining technology has been used to assure there is the least harm to our environment and that our
tourism industry doesn’t suffer.
The technology that PolyMet will use is far safer and cleaner than any present mine and it will continue to care for the environment.
The comments at the Tuesday presentation expressed concern about the short-term number of
jobs and that PolyMet’s process has not been done in Minnesota, but it has been used in other parts of the United States.
It has been reported that the Duluth Complex deposits could provide good paying jobs for 100
years. That isn’t short-term. Also, a thousand construction jobs and hundreds of mining jobs along with spin-off jobs in the hundreds.
Comparing a PolyMet mine to the Flambeau Copper Mine in Wisconsin is comparing apple and
oranges. Flambeau had 11 percent copper with 30 percent sulfur, and the NorthMet low grade ore
contains .31 percent copper with low sulfur content of .88 percent.
There was also concern expressed for various watersheds flowing into Lake Superior and the
Boundary Waters, even though there has not been any detriment to these waters with 100 years of
mining in the area. Also mentioned was the financial assurance guaranty for closure of
operations, which are in place and updated annually.
There are numerous projects, and not just in mining, that have had environmental violations.
Minnesota’s PCA imposes fines and demands a correction to the problem.
The push for “green energy” and “green jobs” include massive amounts of minerals that are
mined. Electric cars with their batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, and all the new electronic technology that we all use and are
not willing to give up, all require the minerals mined in northeast Minnesota.
The most ideal place to mine copper and nickel may be Arizona, as mentioned at the Tuesday
gathering, but the mineral deposits aren’t in Arizona. They are here in northern Minnesota, and we can be grateful that Minnesota has
some of the strictest environmental and pollution regulations in the country.
A healthy community does not have decreasing school enrollments, failing nursing homes
and hospitals, empty storefronts, and crumbling infrastructure. We need good paying jobs that bring young families to our communities.
There are numerous projects ‘that have never been done before” in Minnesota. Look at the NOvA project up at Ash River, 1,000 feet from the river which flows into Lake Kabetogama
about 2.8 miles away. It is one mile from Voyageurs National Park. This project has never been done anywhere in the world and it is definitely short-term — for about 10 years with five full-time jobs. The usage of 4.2 million
gallons of mineral oil (a highly flammable substance) for the neutrino detector hasn’t raise a single concern from environmental
groups. The state didn’t even require an EIS.
It has been reported that there may not be any practical use for the knowledge gathered from the NOvA project. This project is funded with our tax dollars! NOvA is an important physics
project that may lead to new energy sources, but until that time, we will continue to use coal, gas and oil as our major energy sources.
In the case of PolyMet and the other proposed mining projects, caring for the environment must
be based on the best available scientific data, objective analysis, and broad public input on the part of government agencies and elected officials when making and implementing land management and environmental policies.
It’s time to get PolyMet up and running.
Nancy McReady
Ely
(Personal opinion, not speaking for CWCS)
