Town meeting all about mining.
State officials get earful on copper/nickel/precious metals dispute.
By BILL HANNA
Executive Editor - Mesabi Daily News (08/31/11)
MOUNTAIN IRON — Officials of Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration traveled to the Iron Range to hear what was on the minds of local
residents. What they got Monday night was an earful of what citizens discuss and debate each and every day — the ongoing and forever conflict between those who champion mining and the jobs it produces and opponents who see the industry as toxic to the environment and everyday life on the Range.
Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon told about 50 people attending the two-hour session that the group had come to the Range to hear their concerns. About 10 people signed up to speak at a session focusing on jobs and economic development, and they were evenly split and equally passionate about mining, especially copper/nickel/precious metals projects on the drawing board.
Proponents of mining said there are hundreds if not thousands of jobs that will be created by nonferrous mining on the East Range. “We are prepared and ready to create jobs like no other industry in the state. We have 10 companies ready to move ahead,” said Frank Ongaro, executive director of MiningMinnesota, which focuses on nonferrous mining.
Bill Travis, president of IDEA Drilling in Virginia, which does exploration work for copper/nickel/precious metals, said the permitting process has gone on far too long for the PolyMet project, which is the farthest along of several nonferrous projects. He said it’s been “an embarrassment to the state” that PolyMet has taken too long.
The PolyMet initiative near Hoyt Lakes is slated for the footprint of the former LTV Mining Co., which closed about 10 years ago, resulting in the loss of 1,400 jobs. Company officials project it will create 360 permanent jobs, at least 500 spin-off positions and 1.5 million hours of construction work. It is currently in the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement process. Environmental review has gone on for more than five years at a cost of more than $20 million to the company.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Paul Aasen said there “is always a question about speed” of permitting. Lt. Gov. Prettner Solon said one of the first executive orders Dayton signed was a measure to speed up the permitting process for projects throughout the state. He also signed into law a bill doing the same that was passed by the Legislature.“The governor shares your views” on expediting the permit process, she said.
State Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, said mining, including new projects, is vital to the economy of northeastern Minnesota. He said a recent University of Minnesota-Duluth study showed that mining is 35 percent of the entire region’s economy. “We’ve had 130 years of mining and I hope we have 130 more,” he said.
But a harsh critic of any mining, Bob Tammen of Soudan, said the industry produces unhealthy communities. “It creates a lousy economy. We’re within a rifle shot of three taconite plants. But these are not healthy communities here,” he said, pointing out the area has lost population and enrollment in the schools. “In Tower, our school is gone.” Tammen, who testifies often at the Legislature in St. Paul against nonferrous mining, said the permitting process has taken so long for PolyMet for good reasons. He said companies that do copper mining design tailing
ponds so they leak.
After the meeting, Aasen was asked if he believed there are proper and adequate environmental regulations and standards in place in Minnesota for mining. He hesitated for a moment and then said, “A broad brush answer is yes.”
A resident of Morse Township near Ely said the area will not preserve its heritage if copper/nickel mining is allowed to proceed in the region. “I am concerned about the mining effects on our quality of life,” she said. I want a kinder, gentler future for our area,” said Elanne Palcich of Chisholm, who said an effort should be made “to clean up what’s left behind” from other mining “before mining new.”
But Hoyt Lakes Mayor Marlene Pospeck, who was in office when her community was devastated by the loss of LTV, said mining has “sustained this part of northeastern Minnesota” and she doesn’t see copper/nickel mining being detrimental to the area. “Get on with what you need to do as fast as you can,” she said
