Value in governor’s visit; now let’s move on projects, jobs
Opinion - Mesabi Daily News (09/15/11)
We believe there was a lot of value in Gov. Mark Dayton bringing
his traveling economic development forum to the Iron Range on
Tuesday.
It was important that he heard first-hand of the strong support for nonferrous mining projects and the jobs they will bring to the
region, and therefore the state.
And it was equally important that he heard the built-up frustration and actual outrage with delay after delay after delay in the regulatory process for mining ventures that has stalled them for far too long.
The copper/nickel/precious metals PolyMet initiative near Hoyt
Lakes is now more than six years into environmental review.
Meanwhile, 360 goodpaying jobs, hundreds more spin-off positions
and 1.5 million hours of construction work are being held hostage.
It’s absolutely ridiculous that the co-lead agencies in the environmental procedure — the state Department of Natural
Resources, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers —
have dragged their feet so far on the Environmental Impact
Statement measure. It’s now at the supplemental draft EIS level.
Draft? It should be in effect by now.The governor said he was going to check right away with the DNR on the situation.
And he told the Mesabi Daily News in an interview after the
forum on Tuesday that he was holding a conference call with
DNR, MPCA and Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board
commissioners on Wednesday to move on getting a point person
involved to more quickly move forward mining regulatory review.
That is good. And we give the governor good marks for doing so.
But it’s time that all elected officials — state and federal — become advocates for U.S. mining, most specifically on the Iron
Range.
It’s time to flat out stipulate that everyone wants mining —
whether taconite or nonferrous — done with environmental concerns always in mind. That goes without saying. And it really — really gets tiresome hearing preservationists act like they are the only people who care about the environment.
These mining projects can be done in a sound environmental manner. Even MPCA Commissioner Paul Aasen, who worked for a preservationist group before taking the helm as the state’s top
environmental watchdog, answered an MDN question of whether there were current state environmental safeguards in place for
nonferrous mining this way: “A broad brush answer is yes.”
It’s way past time for the DNR and Forest Service to pull up their
big boy pants and either nix the ventures or move the permitting
process forward.
