Marquette City Commission Opposes Water-Mining Ballot; City Endorsed Ballot Provision In Past (with Video)

December 15, 2009

After addressing pollution concerns at the former Cliffs-Dow site, the Marquette City Commission took public comment on a proposed anti-ballot initiative resolution [read Marquette City Resolution Opposing Water Mining Ballot Initiative].  The “MiWater” ballot initiative would place greater restrictions on metallic sulfide and uranium mining activities in Michigan.  Despite offering unanimous support for the resolution, commissioners presented a fairly diverse argument in their opposition to the MiWater ballot initiative.  The majority of citizens providing public comment outlined various arguments in support of the ballot effort.

New commissioner David Saint-Onge questioned why the City was considering the resolution.

“As a new guy on the commission, I’m not so sure why this issue comes before us, to be honest with you, why we’re taking the amount of time that we’ve taken to address this issue – not that it’s not important,” said Saint-Onge. “I do believe that there are some portions of the resolution that’s being offered this evening that are unnecessarily inflammatory.” Read the rest of this entry »


No Surprises: Cameco still leaking into Lake Ontario

October 17, 2009

Cameco, the mining giant exploring for uranium in the upper Great Lakes, continues leaking into Lake Ontario, while even a local news editor says the company better start cleaning up its act.

To make matters worse, the company continues to lay off its Ontario employees.

Cameco has been exploring the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for uranium deposits.

Further information on Cameco’s inglorious track record around the globe can be found elswhere at Lake Superior Mining News.


Kennecott and Trans Superior to Explore in Ottawa National Forest

March 18, 2009

by Gabriel Caplett

Marquette, MichiganDespite the global economic downturn, debt-burden and deferment of its keystone Eagle nickel project, Kennecott Minerals is pushing forward with new prospecting activities on public forest land in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Joining the fray is a Canadian junior exploration company, Trans Superior Resources, which is quietly continuing the search for uranium and metallic minerals. Read the rest of this entry »


Cameco Corporation: A Radioactive Profile

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 »


New Uranium Projects Planned in Ottawa National Forest

October 28, 2008

by Gabriel Caplett

In September 2008, Ottawa National Forest Ontonagon District Supervisor, Susan Spear, issued a “Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact” for Trans Superior Resources’ metallic mineral exploration project within the national forest’s boundaries. The project directly borders the federally-protected boundaries of the Sturgeon River, which is considered a National Wild and Scenic River. Trans Superior is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bitterroot Resources, located in Vancouver, Canada. Read the rest of this entry »


DEQ and Kennecott Form a Non-Profit Corporation

October 28, 2008

By Gabriel Caplett

The Director of the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Office of Geological Survey (OGS), Hal Fitch, has formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with Kennecott and Bitterroot Resources, two companies seeking to open metallic sulfide and uranium mines in the Upper Peninsula.

In an October 2007 e-mail, Fitch acknowledged “that there would be a problem with a state agency forming a corporation” but “came up with an innovative way to address the problem: formation of a non-profit corporation that is not a part of any state agency, but in which OGS is a participating member.” Read the rest of this entry »


Protect the Earth Summit Considered a Success

August 27, 2008

by Gabriel Caplett

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

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 »


Cameco Hits Rough Patch

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 »


Updates on Kennecott and Cameco

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 »


Marquette County Adopts “Hazard Mitigation Plan”

January 27, 2008

by Gabriel Caplett

The Marquette County Resource Management/Development Department completed a “Hazard Mitigation Plan” for the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department, Emergency Management Division.  The plan, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), outlines areas of concern to local and regional law enforcement.

The comprehensiveness of the plan is debatable as it lacks any published citations to support its numerous claims.  Perhaps one of the more misplaced and wild claims is that “Terrorism and Sabotage…” represent a significant risk to the County.  The plan also lacks consideration of metallic sulfide and uranium mining as potential risks to groundwater supplies and public health in the area. Read the rest of this entry »