Steven Chester, Michigan DEQ Director; Photo courtesy State of Michigan; Oddly enough, Chester makes the final decision on whether or not his own agency followed the law in approving Kennecott-Rio Tinto's Eagle Mine application
According to the Associated Press, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director, Steven Chester, wants further information from Judge Patterson on whether or not Eagle Rock is legally a place of worship and is asking Patterson to reverse legal advice that would somewhat protect the religious rights of Native Americans in Michigan.
In August, Patterson recommended nearly unconditional support of Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s proposed Eagle Mine, in the Huron Mountains of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The judge’s one stipulation was that Eagle Rock, a place of worship for indigenous peoples, be protected. During the contested case on the mine proposal, DEQ lawyers argued that Eagle Rock is not a place of worship because it is not a constructed building, such as a Christian church or a mosque.
Patterson’s recommendation mirrored, nearly identically, Kennecott’s view of its own application and took the company’s court testimony as solid fact. Immediately prior to the judge’s ruling, Kennecott acknowledged, to the Environmental Protection Agency, that indigenous access to Eagle Rock was a significant issue, perhaps reflecting the motive behind the judge’s opinion on the sacred site.
Apparently not under consideration is that the DEQ’s coordinator for review of the Eagle Mine application, Joe Maki, said, under oath, that neither he or his team followed a central tenet of Michigan’s “Part 632″ mining law.
Also swept under the rug are comments made by the State’s commissioned rock mechanics expert, Dr. David Sainsbury, that the company’s mine plan was “technically antiquated, sloppy and equivalent to high school level work.” Sainsbury also insisted that the DEQ kept relevant local geological information out of his reports and repeatedly said that Kennecott’s conclusions regarding the ability of the mine to not collapse “are not considered to be defensible” and does “not reflect industry best practice.”
Judge Patterson’s ruling is simply a recommendation to Chester. In a bizarre sort of justice, Chester will soon issue a final decision on whether he and his agency followed the law in approving Kennecott’s application.
LSMN
Eve Divine
doncorvette
[...] November, then DEQ Director Steven Chester requested that Judge Patterson clarify his position on the one stipulation that wasn’t fully in Rio Tinto’s [...]