December 2, 2009
At a recent meeting in Ely, Minnesota a mining company actively exploring the state for metallic sulfide ore bodies expressed opposition to a project that would allow residents to better understand water quality in the area. If the mining industry can’t stop it, the project would represent a significant investment for remote Lake County and could help ensure that the area’s lucrative tourism industry remains intact for years to come.
Bob and Pat Tammen Canoe on Birch Lake; Photo courtesy Lori Andresen
On November 19, the White Iron Chain of Lakes Association (WICOLA) outlined plans before the Lake County Board for an extensive water testing effort of the Kawishiwi River watershed in order to locate pollution sources and prevent future pollution. The project would be funded with $500,000 from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and could possibly attract matching funds. Read the rest of this entry »
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Duluth Metals, Film, gold, lake superior, Minnesota, public land, water, water pollution | Tagged: Duluth Metals, Film, Minnesota, pollution, water, water pollution | 
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Posted by LSMN
October 25, 2009
From the Salt Lake Tribune:
Although those tailings could sweep across State Road 201 like a “violent and intense” flash flood in a 7.25-magnitude temblor, an independent investigation has determined that the slurry likely would stop before reaching any homes or buildings.
If a major earthquake strikes the Salt Lake Valley, Kennecott’s mine-tailings impoundment on the northern edge of Magna could fail and spill soupy sediment more than twice as far as the copper company had predicted.
In March 2008, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Kennecott Utah Copper had concealed, since 1988, the potential for a major earthquake-caused tailings disaster in Magna, Utah. The tailings impoundment is located north of Magna and stores an estimated 1 billion tons of fine mine wastes. In 1992, the company conducted a “risk assessment” to determine if full containment of the impoundment would be more expensive than legal costs associated with property damage and citizen deaths.
The Tribune published a 1997 confidential memo, written by Ray D. Gardner, former Chief Legal Officer for Kennecott, that is highly critical of the company’s handling of the potential tailings disaster: “Prior management’s decisions to disregard and conceal legal advice, forego public notice, attempt to establish a residential buffer surreptitiously, collude with the State Engineer to withhold the KL studies from the public, and restrict the distribution of the Reduction Study, collectively and individually, give the appearance of a conspiracy to cover-up a profound threat to public safety.” Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Health, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Uncategorized, water pollution, workers | Tagged: Kennecott, mine safety, Rio Tinto, water pollution, workers | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
October 19, 2009
Even the prospect of uranium mining, well known for its toxic and radioactive legacy in areas not far from Michigan, in Ontario and Nebraska, are welcomed with open arms by eager officials. Last year, the Gogebic County Commissioner expressed full support of uranium exploration and mining activities on public land.
A more informed understanding of uranium mining is taking place thirteen-hundred miles from Marquette County. In Colorado, elected officials in a number of cities and towns are passing resolutions against a proposed in situ uranium mine that many fear could contaminate their water supply.
Colorado is also looking to pass rules that would implement a law requiring in situ uranium mines to return groundwater at the site to pre-mine quality. To further protect public health and water, the law would require mining companies to cite at least five examples of similar uranium mines that did not harm groundwater.
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Posted by LSMN
December 15, 2008
Menominee, Michigan – Canadian junior mining exploration company, Aquila Resources, hosted a public information meeting at the VFW Hall, Monday, to present its opinion on a controversial topic: acid rock drainage. The company has been exploring its Back Forty Project under intense opposition from local residents and elected officials. The company recently sold its Humboldt Mill facility to Kennecott-Rio Tinto. The company also supplied Kennecott with state mineral leases for its proposed Eagle Project mine over a decade ago.
Aquila hosted “guest speaker” Al Trippel, an environmental consultant with Environmental Resources Management (ERM), based out of London, England. Trippel acted as the mining company’s representative throughout Michigan’s “Part 632″ statute and rules process that crafted legislation regulating the metallic sulfide mining industry. Trippel is currently on Aquila’s payroll, conducting baseline environmental studies necessary prior to submitting a mine application.
Aquila consultant, Al Trippel; Photo courtesy Teresa Bertossi
Aquila’s advertisement for the presentation, in the Menominee County Journal, noted that the meeting was being held “in response to public requests for unbiased, educational, fact-driven information from an expert.”
Teresa Bertossi, Marquette County resident, claimed that publicity surrounding the event showed a lack of “integrity” at Aquila. According to Bertossi, the advertisement did not disclose that Trippel works for the mining company and, in order to be truly unbiased, the company should “have brought in a university professor or a scientist that does not work for Aquila” to present information. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Aquila, gold, Michigan, public land, water pollution | Tagged: Aquila, gold, Michigan, public land, water pollution | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
October 28, 2008
by Gabriel Caplett
Headquartered in Saskatchewan, Canada, Cameco is the world’s largest producer of uranium, accounting for roughly one-fifth of the global supply.
The company has earned a reputation, in recent years, for contaminating the Great Lakes, as well as groundwater and aquifers in Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Saskatchewan, with radioactive waste. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
August 27, 2008
Over 200 concerned individuals from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ontario and Michigan attended Marquette County’s Protect the Earth Summit on the first weekend in August. Saturday events included workshops on treaty rights, successful grassroots opposition to metallic sulfide mining projects and a presentation on the polluted Flambeau Mine, in Wisconsin. A rally was held, at Marquette’s Presque Isle Park that featured musicians and speakers, including Fred Rydholm, Laura Furtman, Al Gedicks, Bobby Bullet, Victor McManemy and Jim St. Arnold, as well as traditional Anishinaabe shawl and hoop dancing, performed by Megan Tucker. On Sunday, over 120 people walked to
Eagle Rock from the Yellow Dog River and held a rally and sacred eagle feather ceremony at the site of the proposed Kennecott Eagle Mine. The event was sponsored by Yellow Dog Summer, Keepers of the Water and Students Against Sulfide Mining.
Citizens from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan Walk to Eagle Rock, on the Yellow Dog Plains; Photo courtesy Teresa Bertossi
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
May 12, 2008
by Gabriel Caplett
Since opening its McArthur River uranium mine, in 1999, Cameco Corporation has become a global leader in uranium production and groundwater contamination. Over the past decade, Cameco has been criticized for mine collapses, extensive groundwater contamination, major uranium and cyanide spills, and transportation accidents – most recently in Nebraska, Wyoming and Saskatchewan….
“A lack of relevant knowledge about faults and fractures”
The Oglala Sioux Nation, along with the Western Nebraska Resources Coalition, Owe Aku/Bring Back the Way, the Clean Water Advocacy Project, Rock the Earth, and other petitioners are filing a legal claim against Crow Butte Resources (CBR), a subsidiary of Cameco. The petitioners maintain that CBR’s in-situ uranium operations, near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, are contaminating the Brule, Arikaree and High Plains aquifers, a major source of freshwater stretching from Texas to South Dakota that supplies irrigatable water for growing vegetables, grains and raising livestock. The Crow Butte mine currently produces roughly 800,000 pounds of uranium “yellowcake”, yearly, which is used for power generation in Canada. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | cameco, Canada, indigenous, uranium, water pollution | Tagged: cameco, first nation, native american, uranium, water pollution, workers | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
May 9, 2008
by Richard Solly (London Mining Network organizer)
This report covers many but not all of the issues raised during questions on the company’s Annual Report and in some of the other items of business. Where several questions were asked about one area, they are reported together. The report was put together with the help of many of the people who attended the AGM.
For an hour before the AGM, there was an inspiring protest outside the Conference Centre, organised by Friends of the Earth, the Free West Papua Campaign and Partizans (People Against Rio Tinto and its Subsidiaries), with help from War on Want. West Papuan flags, illegal in Indonesia and its occupied territories, flapped in the strong wind, and West Papuan musicians sang and played music for the whole time as others handed out information leaflets from London Mining Network. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Eagle Mine, Health, human rights, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, water pollution, workers | Tagged: Eagle Mine, human rights, Kennecott, native american, Rio Tinto, water, water pollution, west papua | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
April 11, 2008
by Gabriel Caplett
Tailings coverup/Uranium spills/Controversial Utah exploration/Salmon-Trout erosion/Aboriginal artifacts/New China partnership….
Kennecott under investigation for tailings cover-up
Kennecott is currently under investigation for covering-up, since 1988, the potential for a major earthquake-caused tailings disaster at the company’s tailings impoundment, in Magna, Utah. The impoundment holds roughly 1 billion tons of fine mine wastes.
Utah’s Dam Safety Inspector is siding with the company, although legislators, officials and the public are calling for an independent investigation, saying the company’s current data cannot be trusted.
The cover-up implicates the Utah State Engineer’s office and Kennecott officials, from 1988 up to the present. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
March 23, 2008
by Gabriel Caplett
Magna, Utah - The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that Kennecott Utah Copper Corp. has concealed, since 1988, the potential for an earthquake-caused major tailings disaster in Magna, Utah. The tailings impoundment is located north of Magna and stores an estimated 1 billion tons of fine mine wastes. In 1992, the company conducted a “risk assessment” to determine if full containment of the impoundment would be more expensive than legal costs associated with property damage and citizen deaths.
The Tribune has published a 1997 confidential memo, written by Ray D. Gardner, former Chief Legal Officer for Kennecott, that is critical of the company’s handling of the potential tailings disaster: “Prior management’s decisions to disregard and conceal legal advice, forego public notice, attempt to establish a residential buffer surreptitiously, collude with the State Engineer to withhold the KL studies from the public, and restrict the distribution of the Reduction Study, collectively and individually, give the appearance of a conspiracy to cover-up a profound threat to public safety.” Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | Health, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, water pollution, workers | Tagged: Kennecott, mine safety, public health, Rio Tinto, water pollution, workers | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
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