Lake Superior Mining News

By Gabriel Caplett

 

Marquette County, MI – The Marquette County Board of Commissioners and numerous board members (and the CEO) at the Lake Superior Community Partnership (LSCP) have become, over the years, Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s most vocal supporters for its proposed Eagle Project mine. At the company’s urging, the county passes resolutions of support and encourages local townships to do the same. The county assists the company in lobbying the State of Michigan and the federal government to support and permit the project and meets with the Eagle Project Manager to decide what the company can buy for Marquette County in order to ensure continued and vocal support.

The county hasn’t always behaved in such an embarrassing fashion.

While the State was considering rules to accompany its “Part 632” statute on metallic mineral mining, County Chairman Gerald Corkin made repeated attempts to convince the State of a need for an independent hydrologic survey of the Yellow Dog Plains. The State continues to rely solely on Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s own data in permitting the mine project.

On March 4, 2005, Corkin wrote to Hal Fitch, Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Office of Geological Survey, “The Marquette County Board of Commissioners supports…recent requests for a United States Geological Survey (USGS) Baseline and Hydrologic Survey of the Yellow Dog Plains region. This request has the support of Marquette County residents and local government officials, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, as well as State Senator Michael Prusi.” Corkin expressed the county’s desire to work with the DEQ to seek funding options at the federal level for the study.

In an earlier letter to Fitch, Corkin maintained that “local governments should have the right to require analysis of a mining operation’s impact on the host community….baseline studies must be of sufficient duration to provide meaningful, actual data from the mining operation. Consideration should be given to neutral, third-party resources to substantiate data.”

Corkin reiterated the request in a July 12, 2005 letter to Joe Maki, DEQ geologist and Mine Team Leader for the DEQ’s permitting of the Eagle Project. The County Board had other concerns regarding the project.  On December 14, 2005, Corkin wrote Fitch, again, outlining “a need for reasonable siting criteria that do not prohibit mining,” a triple liner system, as opposed to the company’s plan to rely on natural bedrock, as well as a two year flora and fauna study. On February 8, 2006, the county reiterated these concerns in a letter to Governor Jennifer Granholm.

The county produced a fact sheet noting that, despite “Part 632”, “local units of government” likely retain the ability “to institute a variety of requirements, including proof of safe and responsible past operations and social and economic impacts analysis.” In order to learn more, the county solicited an “Academic Learning Service Project” that researched information on Wisconsin’s “moratorium” on sulfide mining as well as the industry’s global track record on sulfide mining.

In a draft letter to Governor Granholm, the county expressed a “concern for the future of drinkable, fishable water in Michigan” and told her that “our water is threatened by sulfide mining.”

County Strikes a Deal

 

Yet, underneath this concern for protecting water quality and the local economy, Eagle Project Manager Jon Cherry was working his voodoo with the LSCP’s CEO, Amy Clickner, and the Marquette County Administrator, Steve Powers. The trio was busy hatching an agreement between the county, townships and Kennecott, focusing on organizing economic projects and increasing the county’s tax base.

On November 9, 2005, Powers reminded supervisors from Champion, Powell and Michigamme townships, as well as County Commissioner Chuck Bergdahl, that Jon Cherry “tasked” county and township representatives, at a November 8 meeting, with discussing the economic and community impacts and benefits of the potential Eagle project and to submit personal lists of “specific economic development projects,” per Cherry’s request. The following day, Powers wrote an e-mail noting that Cherry “may need political help” in order to construct a new haul road for the mine going over the National Wild and Scenic Yellow Dog River and through wetlands in the remote Michigamme Highlands.

Powers listed potential “economic and community development” projects that Kennecott could pay for: an “industrial park near [Kennecott’s] rail spur” for “small wood related manufacturers,” “retail development” and “tourism amenities” in Champion Township, “Perkins Park improvements” (at the request of former Powell Township Supervisor Vince Bevins), and money for the Big Bay school. Powers also noted that Champion Township “wants to choose [the] location for Kennecott’s wetlands that will be needed to replace those lost to the road project.”

On February 3, 2006, Powers told County Board members Bergdahl, Corkin and Deb Pellow that he would “be meeting with Jon Cherry to discuss/negotiate an agreement between the County and Kennecott.” On February 14, Powers told commissioners that he was meeting with Cherry to “discuss preliminary ideas and plan for possible scenarios” that “must have the support of Kennecott and Michigamme Township.”

That same day, Powers wrote to Cherry that the LSCP “sees Kennecott as a potential major underwriter of economic development” and that he understood Kennecott’s public relations goals involved a “coordination of requests for assistance and, more importantly, intelligent and strategic use of resources.” He asked, Cherry, “What are your expectations?”  In response, Cherry noted that he would be meeting with Amy Clickner to discuss Kennecott’s ability to fund specific projects in the county.

On March 16, 2006, Powers told Amy Clickner that “Jon Cherry would like the County and LSCP/EDC [Economic Development Corporation] to work together on what our expectations are for support from Kennecott.”

On April 5, 2006 Powers told the county that Northern Michigan University’s Mike Roy (also on Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s “Community Advisory Group”) had been researching an appropriate amount of money the county should request from the company for economic projects.

In a telling account, Powers wrote that, while the mine carried with it “some risk,” it “would be a huge increase to our tax base.”

“A Coordinated Effort”

 

Having successfully negotiated an agreement, it was the county’s turn to reciprocate.

Utilizing fact sheets from Jon Cherry and information from the sulfide mining advocate group “Citizens for Responsible Mining,” [CRM] Steve Powers and Amy Clickner facilitated a “coordinated local effort” to convince state and federal regulators and officials to approve Kennecott’s project.

In July 2007, when the CRM cofounder wrote that Matt Johnson (former UP representative to Governor Granholm and current Rio Tinto lobbyist) and Steven Chester (Director of the DEQ) “want to know if anyone supports this mine,” local elected officials wrote letters of support for the project. Excitedly, Clickner told Powers that, “according to Jon [Cherry]” the letters “have been very helpful” and that Chester “specifically mentioned [that] he received correspondence from the County, Ambassadors, LSCP and Citizens for Responsible Mining.”

While lobbying a congressional delegation in Washington D.C., Cherry encouraged Clickner that “the positive letters and phone calls they receive are very important” and expressed “thanks for all of your help so far.” In support of Cherry’s quest for federal support, Clickner asked Powers if the county could “send support letters to the federal delegation.”

Cherry informed Clickner, the same month, that the DEQ would restart the permitting process (following an internal investigation into suppression of a rock mechanics report highly critical of the mine plan).  In August, Cherry boasted to Powers that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the company’s Underground Injection Control permit “was one of the best permit applications they had ever seen.”

Still hungry, the company pursued and obtained vocal support from the county for its Humboldt mill project.  In turn, the county encouraged “all townships and cities in Marquette County….to support and encourage Kennecott,” while the company held a meeting with Humboldt Township to request a resolution of support. Powers wrote that Jon Cherry, himself, was “very pleased” with the county’s endorsement letter.

In late October 2008, Clickner utilized highly speculative information to host a public relations event promoting two projected mining investments. Using total project estimations, not dollar amounts that would actually remain in the county, Clickner showcased Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s proposed $380 million dollar Eagle Mine project and Cliffs Natural Resources proposed $765 million expansion. One week later, Cliffs announced the potential for mass layoffs at its Empire and Tilden mines. The three-quarter of a billion dollar investment has been placed on hold indefinitely. The Eagle Mine may be shelved soon, as well.

And, this fall, the county has continued its own work in support of Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s mine project. The company, apparently frustrated that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would not provide a multi-decade public land use lease until all mining-related permits were approved, requested local elected officials’ “support to have that condition dropped.”

“Part of a coordinated effort,” according to Steve Powers.

At the time of publication, Amy Clickner of LSCP, did not respond to a request for an interview.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 11:57 pm and is filed under Eagle Mine, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Michigan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.