Satellite map of Rio Tinto's planned Humboldt milling facility; Photo courtesy Google Maps
One day before a hearing on the company’s proposed 22-mile haul road, Rio Tinto is announcing it has obtained all state permits for its planned Humboldt milling facility.
At a December public hearing on the mill, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community geologist, Chuck Brumleve, noted that the DEQ’s approval of the Humboldt Project was opposed by both the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Reading from an EPA statement, Brumleve reported that the agency is “concerned the currently proposed project may have significant adverse impacts on the ecosystem. We object to the issuance of a permit for this project.”
Brumleve said that the US Fish and Wildlife Service requested “that the MDEQ not issue a permit for the proposed work.”
Ignoring the strong criticisms, the DEQ’s director of the Office of Geological Survey, Hal Fitch, claimed that approval of the Humboldt Mill project “hasn’t been a controversial issue.”
Rio Tinto says it will clean up the Humboldt site. One staunch supporter of the company, Marquette County Commissioner Deb Pellow, claimed that the “reuse of the abandoned industrial site is an outstanding opportunity for environmental clean-up with the cost borne by Kennecott.”
“At the end of the mine’s life the site and surrounding area will have to be reclaimed to establish a self-sustaining ecosystem that does not need ongoing care,” said Pellow.
Brumleve disagreed and said that while “we’re all in favor of” reusing old industrial sites, “instead of creating news ones,” Rio Tinto’s application makes clear, in at least two sections, that they are not required to leave the site cleaner than it currently is, nor do they intend to do so.
Quoting from Rio Tinto’s application, Brumleve said “the final land use of the reclaimed area of the Humboldt Mill site will remain as restricted industrial uses consistent with [Rio Tinto's] acquisition of the site.”
“They apparently do not intend to remediate these conditions,” said Brumleve.
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