Lake Superior Mining News

By Gabriel Caplett

 

Marquette County, MI - Rio Tinto, the parent company of Kennecott Minerals, is in the early stages of attempting to construct a haul road from its proposed Eagle Project mine on the Yellow Dog Plains to the old Humboldt milling facility in Humboldt Township.  The haul road, as proposed, would cross at least eight creeks or rivers, including the “National Wild and Scenic” Yellow Dog River on its way through some of the most remote and breathtaking land in the Upper Peninsula.

Cherry says the new haul road became an option as a response to public concerns regarding the company’s original proposed route on County Road 550 from Big Bay through Marquette.  This plan was widely opposed by residents living along the route.  According to a confusing and contradictory statement on the company’s website, use of existing roadways would have helped to “ensure public safety and minimize burden on area roads.”

Nonetheless, the company plans to mill the ore locally, in Humboldt, if permits are obtained. Rio Tinto/Kennecott originally stated that ore would be transported to existing milling facilities in Sudbury, Ontario.

In May, 2008, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Land and Water Management Division staff held a pre-application meeting with Rio Tinto/Kennecott’s John Meier regarding the road project.  According to Meier, the company plans to fill in wetlands to construct the road over the Yellow Dog River, Mulligan Creek, Wildcat Canyon Creek, the Dead River, Voelkers Creek, Koops Creek, Second Creek and the Middle Branch of the Escanaba River. A wetland mitigation plan is expected in July.

Longyear Realty Corporation, Plum Creek, A. Lindberg & Sons, and GMO Renewable Resources provided Rio Tinto/Kennecott with legal access to their properties so the company could conduct feasibility tests. Rio Tinto/Kennecott reportedly purchased hundred of acres of private land in order to acquire a clear path to Humboldt. The company has yet to obtain easements on publicly held land through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Lindberg & Sons has been contracted to obtain geotechnical soil boring work at each river crossing where either a culvert or bridge would be placed. STS Consultants, of Marquette, has been retained to perform bridge and culvert designs.

According to documents obtained through an open records request, the DEQ has already been able to fast-track some of the preliminary work for the road project. Rio Tinto/Kennecott was permitted to file one single application for all of the bore hole sites, rather than obtain individual permits. Of the arrangement, one DEQ field representative remarked: “Frankly, I’m “surprised that they can have them all on one application, but that is not my call to make.”

Wise Use?

 

According to the DEQ, even preliminary work on the road project has the potential to affect the narrow-leaved gentian, considered by the State of Michigan to be a “threatened” plant. Many biologists consider the area to be a hot spot for a number of rare plants thriving in the mineral-rich soils, such as New England sedge, broad-leaved sandwort, grape ferns and Clinton’s rush.

Despite this biodiversity and the remoteness of the area, the DEQ considers the project to be “consistent with similar structures or other permitted projects in the area.”

Jeff Knoop, Director of Land Protection for the Nature Conservancy’s Upper Peninsula offices, disagrees.  Building a road through such a remote tract of land will “change the whole character of the forest system,” he says. One concern is the potential introduction of invasive species to the area.

“It’s just not good to blast a road that wide through a largely un-fragmented area,” said Knoop. “They should use existing roads.”

In 2005, the Nature Conservancy began a “working forest” conservation easement program with the Forestland Group. The 271,338-acre Northern Great Lakes Forest Project stretches across eight counties and ensures public recreational access for activities such as hunting, fishing and snowmobiling while allowing regulated logging that ensures protection of wetlands, streams and other special features. The project has helped create one of the largest conservation corridors in the Midwest while remaining a steady source for forestry-based employment.

While the DEQ claims that Rio Tinto/Kennecott’s road project would “be in the public interest,” many residents are unconvinced.  One Wolf Lake Road resident living near the proposed project said the haul road would “have a significant impact on the road systems in the township and on future land use.”

Ominously “Unaware”

 

DEQ staff reported that they were unauthorized to comment on the status of the South Road Project due to its “controversial” nature. DEQ Press Secretary Robert McCann said he has no knowledge of the haul road project. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) did not respond to a request for information on the proposed road.

Detailed plans for the road were not disclosed to the public in 2007 in mine permit applications approved by the DEQ, and now in litigation. Under Michigan law, Rio Tinto/Kennecott must submit an amendment request to the DEQ for this significant change to the approved mining permit. The DEQ is then required to “submit the request for amendment to the same review process as provided for a new permit application,” which would include new public hearings on the proposed Eagle Project mine. In addition to the revised mine permit, the South Road Project would require permits related to wetland and inland lakes and streams protection.

A similar amendment is legally required for the company to extend electric service to the mine site, but the Alger-Delta Rural Electric Association has reportedly been attempting to quietly negotiate easements on private land in order to construct a new power line.

Neither the haul road nor the electric line plans have received required legal approval under Michigan’s new metallic mining law.

It is unclear if Rio Tinto/Kennecott would attempt to utilize public transportation funds to construct the south road project, with its damaging impact on wetlands and forests.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 10:51 pm and is filed under Eagle Mine, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Michigan, public land. 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.