The fly-in community has been utilizing civil disobedience tactics for a number of years after Platinex neglected to consult the KI regarding its intent to explore on a number of disputed mineral claims.  Despite court rulings against the company and strong local resistance, Platinex continues to attempt to exploit its mineral claims.

From the September 1  Canadian Globe and Mail:

Donny Morris, Chief of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation; Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

In purely physical terms, it was a duel between a Beaver floatplane and a small aluminum skiff.

But the symbolic heft of the brief standoff on Nemeigusabins Lake last Wednesday was far greater.

In the boat sat a lone man, Donny Morris, chief of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, a fly-in community 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay that has vowed to stop a mining company drilling for platinum on their traditional lands.

Aboard the plane, representatives from the company, Toronto-based Platinex, were trying to land on a lake that abuts 221 mining claims it has in the area.

The plane swooped down several times, but the man steering the boat blocked their passage, and the plane finally buzzed off toward the horizon.

Marquette, Michigan — Last weekend, Aug. 1-2, “Protect the Earth 2009,” the second annual Great Lakes Community Gathering of people opposed to metallic sulfide and uranium mining in the

Utah activist, Tim DeChristopher, presents at Northern Michigan University on August 1

Upper Peninsula and nearby Great Lakes states, offered workshops with expert speakers; musical entertainment; Native American dance, drumming and spiritual ceremonies; and a two-mile walk to Eagle Rock. This Native American sacred site is a proposed target of the “Eagle” Project, Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s potential metallic sulfide mine on the Yellow Dog Plains near Marquette.

For the complete article by Michele Bourdieu, please visit Keweenaw Now.

See below for an excellent speech given by Susan LaFernier, Vice Chair of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, at Eagle Rock on August 2.

In February 2006, a small crowd of mostly children and elderly members from the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, (KI) or Big Trout Lake, First Nation peacefully blockaded a winter access road used by the Platinex mining company and decommissioned the company’s exploration camp, dismantling buildings and packing their drilling equipment.  In response to the blockade the drilling crew fled the area by plane. Despite offers to return the equipment to the company, Platinex did not contact KI for its equipment. Following this action, the KI chief sat at the site and protected the territory for about a month until it became apparent that Platinex wasn’t returning anytime soon.

Platinex has been attempting to explore platinum deposits on land claimed by KI.

KI has expressed concerns regarding mining operations since it submitted a Treaty Land Entitlement Claim to the provincial government in 2000. KI is a signatory to the James Bay Treaty with the Canadian government and maintains that the government inadequately assessed their original land claim, stripping the First Nation of approximately 200 square kilometers of treaty land.

While initially not opposed to Platinex’s activities, in 2001 KI Chief Donny Morris informed Platinex that, due to KI’s land claim application, the First Nation insisted upon a moratorium on mining activity until the negotiation and consultation process with the company and provincial government was completed. In 2005, after Platinex had neglected its legal obligation to consult and accommodate the First Nation, leaders from Ontario’s “Far North”, including KI, Muskrat Dam, Wapekeka, and Wawakapewin announced a moratorium on mining exploration that affirmed their “God given Right to continue our own way of life.”  Muskrat Chief Vernon Morris said, “The communities have provided a clear direction to governments and mining companies like De Beers, Kennecott, Platinex, and Superior Diamonds on this troublesome issue.”

Ultimately, Platinex sought an injunction against KI’s blockade and sued the First Nation for $10 billion in damages. KI estimated it would have taken them 200 years to pay such a fine.

In May 2006, the KI questioned the constitutionality of Ontario’s Mining Act in a Thunder Bay court case. Previous Canadian Supreme Court rulings require the government to consult and accommodate with First Nations prior to any resource development activity. KI spokesperson John Cutfeet expressed that “both Premier McGuinty and Prime Minister Harper talk about enforcing the rule of law as First Peoples stand up for their land rights, rights that are entrenched in the Constitution, the highest law of the land….both governments, however, fail to enforce this Constitutional Law. Either they are selective in which laws they enforce, or they are intentionally ignoring Constitutional Law. In any case, it is not a flattering position for any government.”

Platinex lost the case, in July, and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice deemed the KI’s winter blockade an “understandable” action. In August, Ontario’s Security Commission received a request to investigate whether the company ignored the province’s financial security legislation and policies by misleading investors in not fully disclosing its exploration activities. In it’s July ruling, the Superior Court, in Thunder Bay, noted that Platinex should have been aware of KI’s opposition to exploration activities since 2001, saying, “It is inconceivable that Platinex did not know that KI was strongly opposing any further drilling on the property. Platinex decided to gamble that KI would not try to stop them and essentially decided to try to steamroll over the KI community by moving in a drilling crew without notice.” In October, 2005, Platinex told investors, through the Toronto Stock exchange that KI had verbally consented” to exploration activities.

Despite court rulings and high court precedence, the Ontario government granted Platinex approval to begin drilling on KI’s traditional lands in October, 2007. KI, essentially bankrupted with legal fees, were told that, if they stopped Platinex’s exploration activities, they would be found in contempt of court.

In April and May of 2008, KI member Laura Calm Wind spoke in front of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and called for immediate UN intervention on behalf of the KI6. She argued that Canada, considered a champion of international human rights, violated the KI’s human rights and treaty rights by imprisoning their leaders for peacefully preventing Platinex from exploring on the KI’s territory. Calm Wind said that “the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes the Indigenous rights of KI peoples, but Canada has rejected this declaration in order to suppress and deny our human rights….other legislation, such as the Indian Act and Ontario’s Mining Act, are also neglectful of Aboriginal rights….when we stand for our rights, our land and our future generations, we are treated like criminals.”

When council leaders again peacefully prevented Platinex from accessing its exploration sites, again, six KI members (known as the “KI6”) were arrested and jailed. Chief Donny Morris said, “Platinex seeks to jail our leaders and supporters and bankrupt our community….I’m prepared to go to jail for my belief in my land.” The KI6 served over two months of a six month sentence before the Ontario Court of Appeals  reduced their sentence to time served and ordered Platinex and the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines to cover the defendant’s legal costs.

Leaders of the Shabot Obaadjiwan and Ardoch Algonquin First Nations, in southern Ontario, have faced similar problems while opposing uranium exploration on their traditional territories. They have joined with private property owners, faith, environmental and social justice groups to call for a meaningful reform of Ontario’s outdated Mining Act. The Act, passed in 1873, allows individuals and companies to secretly stake claims, drill and operate a mine without landowner permission, on public and private land, as well as territory claimed by indigenous First Nations. Mining Watch Canada says the “Act fails to recognize Aboriginal and Treaty rights and violates the established constitutional right of Indigenous peoples to consultation  and accommodation prior to all government decisions that might affect their interests.”

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

The event marked a turning point in the citizen movement to protect public land and valuable freshwater from metallic sulfide and uranium mining and was defined by its diversity of attendees and the unity and determination of those involved. Speakers affirmed that, by remaining active and asserting the power of community and sovereign rights, dangerous mining is not a done deal in the U.P and throughout the Great Lakes.

“A Permanent Victory” in Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin sociology professor, Al Gedicks, discussed the successful opposition to the proposed Crandon Mine, adjacent to the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa’s reservation. A nearly 30-year battle pitting a coalition of five tribal groups, sports fishermen, farmers, union workers and students against mining giants Exxon, BHP-Billiton and Rio Algom effectively ended, in 2003. The committed opposition had made the project so unattractive to investors that the mining giants were encouraged to leave the area for good. According to Gedicks, this represented the “first time anywhere in the world where not only a large corporation [had] been defeated but defeated in such a way that it is a permanent victory.”

Gedicks emphasized that this victory was accomplished when tribal and grassroots groups rejected a compromise stance taken by mainstream environmental groups. Describing what is commonly called a “consensus process,” Gedicks explained “the entire process is dominated by the mining company lawyers. For example, the whole process of permitting the metallic mining regulations in the state of Michigan were premised on the fact that there would be no consideration of a mining moratorium law. People that were in favor of the mining moratorium were excluded from participation in that process.”

Retired iron worker and summit speaker, Bob Tammen, commented that “the consensus process compromises what we stand for.”

Another Way

Gedicks asserted that alternatives exist to mining metals, such as copper, nickel and zinc. He stressed the importance of accessing recycled metals found in landfills. Currently, in the US, the amount of metal thrown in landfills, each year, equals the amount found in roughly 35 Kennecott Eagle Projects. Recycling opportunities abound also in the reuse of metals from abandoned military equipment. According to Gedicks, “Nickel is a war metal. You cannot wage war without nickel….all the equipment that has ever been used in any wars, from prehistoric times to now, that metal is still available. That metal is not now being recycled because it is more profitable to go after virgin sources of metal than there is to go after recycled metal.”

Gedicks warned attendees that “Everywhere you go, mining companies tell communities we’re going to have a mining project here. The first thing they say is that my state [e.g. Michigan] has the most strict environmental legislation . . . none of the state’s have strict environmental legislation. The strictest environmental legislation is in Ecuador.”

“There Will Be No Mine, As Long As I’m Alive”

Traditional Anishinaabe Dancer, Megan Tucker, at Presque Isle; Photo courtesy Teresa Bertossi

The event culminated with a rally on the Yellow Dog Plains and took a focus on treaty rights and community rights. After a jubilant 2-mile walk from the Yellow Dog River, Mole Lake member, Jerry Burnett, performed a highly emotional eagle feather ceremony, prior to presenting the feather to members of U.P. opposition. The eagle feather was offered by Sandy Lyons, one of the founders, along with Walt Bresette and Jim Schlender, of the Protect the Earth Gatherings, in Wisconsin.

Burnett told attendees, “It’s an honor and it’s a privilege to be here with you people. That’s one of the biggest things I’ve said to Exxon, Rio Algom, BHP, including Kennecott. I told them there will be no mine as long as I’m alive. And you have to believe that in your heart. Keep coming back for this and keep doing it until they’re gone.”

Following the eagle feather ceremony KBIC member, Stan Spruce, raised the Mole Lake water staff and said, to applause, “Kennecott can only hope to have this much power.”

Recovering the Sacred

Susan LaFernier, vice-president of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community urged attendees to remember that “Water is a gift of life and is sacred. Sulfide mining is not a done deal… Remember that we do have the power to effectively stop developments of unpopular mining plans and we must do so…I pray that our ancestors vision and our determination will be honored and that we allow our water to continue to purify itself as it knows how to best, since Creation.”

Fred Ackley, Mole Lake tribal judge and instrumental figure in stopping the Crandon Mine project, spoke with a sacred pipe in hand, “The Creator has given us all these things you see here…We have all these things he gave us. He also gave us a way how to live. So I pray for the nibi , the water; I pray for the fish in the water; I pray for all the human beings who drink water.”

Encapsulating the Summit’s theme, Al Hunter, poet and author from the Rainy River First Nation, in Ontario, told attendees that the mining companies “might have economic power, they might have political power, but they don’t have the spiritual power and that will trump everything, every single time. I want you to remember that.”

Organizers intend to hold a similar rally, next year, to address themes of treaty rights and the role citizens can play in actively stopping unpopular and dangerous metallic and uranium mining in the Great Lakes region.

As the Upper Peninsula battles against a metallic sulfide mining district, citizens have turned to neighboring Wisconsin as an example of successful grassroots opposition to unsustainable mining.

Ironically, Kennecott has also found inspiration in Wisconsin. The company has showcased its now-closed Flambeau Mine in attempts to demonstrate that it is capable of operating a successful sulfide mine in the UP.

Kennecott, and the industry as a whole, has learned its lesson in losing to grassroots mining opponents in Wisconsin and around the world.

Kennecott’s Unfulfilled Obligations

In 2007, Kennecott attempted to obtain a Certificate of Completion for its reclamation activities at the Flambeau Mine site, in Rusk County. The Certificate does not address ground and surface water contamination and excludes from scrutiny the 32 acres that comprised the actual mine site.

In Rio Tinto’s March, 2008, “Review” Kennecott Eagle project manager, Jon Cherry, falsely claims that, in Wisconsin, the company “received a Certificate of Completion, which means that we’ve fulfilled all our obligations” at the Flambeau Mine.”

Although the mine has been closed for only 10 years, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and company monitoring of the Flambeau River shows levels of mine contaminants, including heavy metals, in sediment and crayfish to be 10 to 100 times higher than Kennecott’s independent data anticipated during the Flambeau Mine permit process.

Despite this evidence, Kennecott claims that “the River has been fully protected at every stage of the….Project….Testing shows conclusively ground water quality surrounding the site is as good as it was before mining.”

Although Kennecott’s application predicted that groundwater pollution from the backfilled pit would continue for roughly 4,000 years, the company maintains that a security bond of $12 million was “never intended to address groundwater or surface water contamination that may exist now or in the future.”

While Kennecott did secure state approval and bypassed obtaining the people’s consent to operate its Flambeau mine, citizens did delay the project for years and began a campaign, in 1993, to pass a moratorium on metallic sulfide mining in the state.

Tough Enough?

In 1998, under immense public pressure, the Wisconsin legislature passed the “Churchill” Moratorium bill, requiring that a mining company present an example of a metallic sulfide mine that has operated for 10 years without polluting surface or ground water from the mine or its tailings. It must also show a mine that has been closed for 10 years without polluting surface or ground water.

Although the Wisconsin DNR refused to write administrative rules, thus weakening the law, the state’s “moratorium” is considered the toughest metallic mining law in the nation and has, for a decade, kept Kennecott/Rio Tinto and other transnational mining companies out of operation in the state.

Mining giant BHP-Billiton, through its subsidiary Nicolet Minerals, attempted to bypass the moratorium by citing examples in Arizona, Canada and California. Located south of Crandon, the 55 million ton zinc, copper and lead deposit, first discovered by Exxon Minerals had been stalled by massive citizen opposition since 1976.

By April, 2003, as the examples proved unable to pass scrutiny under Wisconsin law, BHP sold Nicolet Minerals and its surface and mineral rights for the project to Northern Wisconsin Resource Group, a subsidiary of Nicolet Hardwood Corp.

On October 28, 2003, the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa and the Forest County Potawatomi tribes purchased Nicolet Minerals and the lands associated with the proposed project site, ending the 27 year fight between the citizens of Wisconsin and the world’s most powerful mining companies. Two days later, the DNR received a letter from the company announcing its intention to withdraw its permit applications:

“Given the number of sulfide mines that have caused catastrophic water pollution in North America and the lack of reliable data to suggest that modern sulfide mining technology has improved sufficiently to justify taking the risks that this project poses, it is doubtful that [Nicolet Minerals] could, in good faith, meet its burden of proof under the Wisconsin Mining Moratorium Law.”

Sticking it to the Locals

The law remains far stricter than Michigan’s new nonferrous mining laws. In early 2004, at the first public meeting to discuss creating a new law, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Deputy Director, Skip Pruss, instructed a group of mining company officials, lawyers, local authorities, tribes and environmental groups, that Wisconsin’s law would not be a valid topic of discussion. A law and rules were then created that would regulate metallic mining, rather than prevent its use in the state until it could be done safely.

The law stripped local townships of authority to reject or approve metallic mining plans, a tactic that had been highly successful in Wisconsin. The law also failed to include a requirement for mining companies to obtain free, prior and informed consent from the local community and completely disregarded native treaty rights when considering applications.

As in Wisconsin, a community in New York State utilized township zoning authority to stave off an unwanted rock mine, successfully stopping the mine from opening.

Zoning Power in New York

Citizens in Saugerties, New York, used the town’s 1989 zoning laws to prevent the opening of a rock mine within a residential district. The proposed mine, located near federally-recognized wetlands would have excavated roughly 2.8 million cubic yards of stone over a 28-year period and affected the local water table.

Gilbert Shott submitted a mining application to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The application was rejected twice as incomplete. Despite Schott’s faulty application, the DEC ruled that excavation of 1200 pallets of bluestone was not considered “mining” and could be performed without a permit. Shott was stopped twice from excavating stone without a permit.

When the town board upheld a restriction on mining in residential areas, Shott sued the town for enforcing its zoning laws.

After 5 state and federal lawsuits rejecting Shott’s legal claims, Gilbert Shott decided against appealing the decisions in State Supreme Court.

While mining projects have been stopped by communities wanting to protect their fresh water in Wisconsin and New York, other communities have had success in stalling projects. Citizen opposition to molybdenum mining, in Colorado, has been referred to as one of the ‘most effective grassroots environmental movements in the Rocky Mountains.’

Crested Butte’s Battle

The grassroots High Country Citizen’s Alliance and local business group, the Red Lady Coalition, have been fighting US Energy’s Lucky Jack sulfide mine project, on Mount Emmons, in Colorado. The project covers 5,400 acres in mineral claims and reportedly contains roughly 22 million tons of high-grade molybdenum and 220 tons of low-grade ore, making it one of the largest deposits of molybdenum in the world. Opponents have expressed concerns over the high potential for acid mine drainage.

Mt. Emmons has been home to mining operations in the past. An 1884 disaster claiming the lives of more than forty-four miners ended production at the Jokerville Coal Mine. Following exhaustion of anthracite coal at the Big Mine, in 1952, US Energy developed the Keystone Mine, on Mt. Emmons, in the 1960s, eventually selling the project to Amax. In the mid-1970s, four tailings ponds at the mine, which contained high concentrations of heavy metals, failed and drained into nearby Coal Creek. Crested Butte residents forced Amax, by then owned by Phelps-Dodge, to construct a water treatment plant and pay for operating expenses. Dissatisfied with costs associated with efforts to reclaim the tailings mess, the property reverted to US Energy, in 2006. In order to cover costs associated with treating water contamination from its old mining operation, the company is attempting to extract molybdenum from the mountain.

US Energy plans to mill its product on a 100-acre site, near the base of the mountain, using a process involving the use of sodium cyanide. The milled product would be transported through the town of Crested Butte. Mine tailings would be pumped, via a four-mile pipeline, and dumped near the headwaters of Ohio Creek at a 200-acre impoundment that would contain up to 200 feet of mine waste.

In March a Canadian mining company, Kobex Resources, withdrew from the joint venture project. Kobex was to operate and maintain up to a 65% interest in the mine. The company, which raised nearly $30 million to finance the operation, spent at least $8 million on rehabilitation of US Energy’s abandoned mine site and exploration.

In a press release, Kobex expressed that “the regulatory and legal uncertainties which currently exist at the Federal, State, County and Municipal levels, in the Company’s opinion, have become too great to justify the necessary time and major pre-development expenditures that are required to advance this property.”

US Energy, which claims it is entertaining bids for another joint venture from larger mining companies, remains committed to the project, and has hired Samuel Engineering to conduct a pre-feasibility study for the project.

A US Energy press release states, “This project has “world-class” potential, and [U.S. Energy] stands undeterred in its resolve to advance, permit and develop Lucky Jack into a premier primary molybdenum mine that the United States can be proud of.”

On May 14, Colorado’s Mined Reclamation Board rejected a review of the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety’s decision to allow US Energy to construct an “exploratory” tunnel, referred to as a “drift” by the industry, on Mt. Emmons. The Board noted that, under current law, prospecting decisions cannot be appealed by the public or any state agency. Opponents maintain that the tunnel is not necessary for exploration purposes and should be considered an un-permitted mining activity, as the tunnel would likely serve as a ventilation shaft or access point for a potential mine. US Energy still needs approval from the town of Crested Butte and Gunnison County to begin construction of the tunnel.

The Red Lady Coalition announced, in March, that one of the world’s largest law firms, DLA Piper, agreed to take their case, pro bono. Also, a state law is being considered that would allow public a degree of access to mine prospecting information, while much information would still be considered proprietary. Currently, Colorado keeps all prospecting information secret. The new law would allow public comment and some evaluation of environmental damages associated with prospecting and exploration.

Some examples where mines have been halted or stopped

1. Esquel, Argentina: A recent Supreme Court decision in Argentina upheld the rights of provinces to locally regulate and restrict activities. Minera El Desquite, despite their public relations strategies, remains blocked by citizen-influenced Chubut laws prohibiting open pit metal mining and the use of cyanide.

2. Mendoza, Argentina: The province’s parliament voted to suspend open-pit metals mining indefinitely because the local government had failed to meet a 30-day deadline to draw up a plan to safeguard the environment from mining projects. The ban will last until an environmental plan is in place.

3. Cerro Quilish Mountain, Peru: However, when the Newmont Mining Corporation decided to expand their Yanacocha gold mine the Peruvian government ruled in the company’s favor and allowed Newmont to explore the mountain. Almost immediately after Newmont began drilling, on September 2, 2004, citizens organized to protest the desecration of their sacred mountain and strategically placed boulders and vehicles to blockade the Yanacocha Mine. Despite public outcry, Newmont kept the mining operations up and running; the company used helicopters to get workers to the mine site (Earth Island Institute, 2008). After two weeks, nearly 10,000 people gathered to protest the project (Earth Island Institute, 2008). On September 15, 2004 a regional strike and street demonstration caught the Peruvian government and Newmont’s attention. Newmont was forced to sign an accord and agreed to leave the sacred mountain.

4. Ottawa Valley/Kingston: A non-native coalition joined a peaceful protest that had been set up by the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation and the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation on June 28th, 2007. Tribal leaders Paula Sherman and Bob Lovelace were fined and sentenced. Lovelace is currently jailed. In February, the Ottawa city council passed a resolution (18-1) to urge Ontario Premier, Dalton McGuinty, to temporarily ban uranium prospecting, exploration and mining in eastern Ontario and the Ottawa River watershed and to conduct a public review of the 1990 Ontario Mining Act.

5. Crandon, Wisconsin: A nearly 30-year battle to stop a proposed metallic sulfide mine, near the Mole Lake Reservation and on ceded territory lands, ended when the Mole Lake Chippewa bought the land and its mineral rights in November, 2006.

6. Costa Rica: The country outlawed all new open-pit mining operations, in 2002.

7. Rosia Montana: Gabriel Resources and the Government of Romania have attempted opening a cyanide gold mine that would affect ancient cemetaries and historical artifacts, as well as requiring an entire town to relocate. Recently, the Romanian Government re-enforced its position in support of a new law proposal to ban cyanide: “We have to say very clearly: if we start to close the existing mines and rehabilitate the affected areas then this will create many jobs in Romania and the Government supports this approach.” The licensing procedure for the project has been stopped for an unlimited period by the Ministry for the Environment and Sustainable Development.

8. Irian Jaya (West Papua): Even with military opposition, residents have stopped production at the Rio Tinto/Freeport McMoRan Grasberg Mine, although the mine continues to operate. Rio Tinto is currently involved in a US lawsuit concerning the company’s participation with the Indonesia military in human rights abuses.

9. Northern British Columbia: Northgate Minerals has been obliged to withdraw consideration of expanding its Kerness South Mine, with another open-pit operation. In September, 2007 a joint federal and provincial environmental review panel said that, while the company met all necessary requirements to proceed, Northgate should not proceed with its project. The panel cited negative impacts on aboriginal peoples, lack of community support for the project, and a loss of the spiritually- valuable Duncan Lake, which would have been used to dispose of tailings. According to the panel, “The economic and social benefits provided by the project, on balance, are out weighed by the risks of significant adverse environmental, social and cultural effects, some of which may not emerge until many years after operations cease.”

10. Saugerties, New York: Beginning in 2001 and ending in November of 2004 an ambitious deep pocketed miner happened to choose a residential area in Saugerties to establish a bluestone mining operation to mine for 20 years or more. The community banded together and stopped the mine.

Globally, grassroots movements are underway demanding companies obtain “free, prior and informed consent” from local communities before state approval of exploration and mining permits.  The concept has proven to be a major threat to transnational mining companies that rely on government handouts of public land and access to private and indigenous land in order to operate.

Rather than obtain community consent and eliminate mine pollution in sensitive areas, the mining industry has responded with the Global Mining Initiative, originally introduced by Rio Tinto.  The GMI entails a massive global public relations effort to frame mining operations as synonymous with sustainable development.

John Bray, research head at Control Risks, the world’s largest corporate risk consultant, advises his clients that maintaining “dialogue” with the opposition ensures that ‘you win…If you meet a group that will not compromise, then you have a problem.’

In neighboring Ontario, indigenous First Nations and non-native private property owners are disregarding industry rhetoric while waging a successful battle to prevent uranium exploration and mining on indigenous, public and private land.

Not a Class Act

The Ontario Mining Act enables companies to secretly stake claims, drill and operate a mine on public and private land, as well as territory claimed by indigenous First Nations.  According to Mining Watch Canada, the “Act fails to recognize Aboriginal and Treaty rights and violates the established constitutional right of Indigenous peoples to consultation and accommodation prior to all government decisions that might affect their interests.”

Frontenac Ventures has been exploring for uranium on 30,000 acres of private land and land claimed by Algonquin First Nations, and has been vigorously opposed by the local indigenous and non-native population.  Their opposition has created an embarrassingly high-profile situation for the Ontario government.

“I Must Follow Algonquin Law”

From June to October, 2007, members of a non-native coalition joined a peaceful protest organized by the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation and the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and prevented Frontenac from drilling near Sharbot Lake.  Frontenac filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Algonquin nations and obtained court injunctions ordering protestors off the land.  Some protestors were arrested, although only native participants were charged.  Tribal leaders Paula Sherman and Bob Lovelace were fined and sentenced.  Local citizens and First Nation members continue to occupy the land.

Lovelace said, “I do not want my children and grandchildren to have to go through what we are going through….I want to obey Canadian law, but Algonquin law instructs me that I must preserve Creation.  I must follow Algonquin law.”

In a case similar to that of Bob Lovelace and Paula Sherman, in March, six leaders of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, were sentenced to six months prison time.  The “KI6” are opposing Platinex Inc.’s platinum project in northern Ontario.

Putting the Pressure on Parliament

Over 1,000 people gathered in front of Ontario’s parliament, in Toronto, May 26 and 27^th, for the “Gathering of Mother Earth’s Protectors.”

According to Barb Bradley, a UP citizen and organizer against sulfide mining who attended the rally in Toronto, “It was a well-organized, multicultural, and peaceful rally. This event exemplified the power of ordinary citizens confronting large mining corporations and corrupt governments. Kennecott cannot mine without our permission, but we must speak louder…silence and negotiation can be misinterpreted as implied consent.  If we make the issue hot enough, our government can’t ignore us any longer.”

Following the rally, the Ontario government dismissed charges against the KI6, sentencing them to time already-served.  Bob Lovelace, who began a water only hunger strike in mid-May, was also freed days following the rally, although he may soon serve further prison time for additional contempt charges related to the protest.

“Leave It In The Ground”

Citizens and First Nations across Canada are becoming increasingly active as they fight to preserve their land rights.  The governments of Nova Scotia and British Columbia have passed “moratoriums” on uranium mining and have demonstrated an unwillingness to approve unwise mine plans.  Recently Northgate Mineral’s open-pit copper and gold mine plan was rejected by the British Columbia government over concerns that, “The economic and social benefits provided  by the project, on balance, are outweighed by the risks of significant adverse environmental, social and cultural effects, some of which may not emerge until many years after operations cease.”

According to Mining Watch Canada’s Jamie Kneen, “The only thing that’s responsible to do with uranium is to leave it in the ground.”

On January 9, 2007, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) granted preliminary approval of Kennecott Mineral’s Eagle Mine permit. The potential metallic sulfide mine is on the Yellow Dog Plains, within a few miles of the shores of Lake Superior. This decision should not have come as a surprise to anyone. According to one member of the DEQ, “the DEQ [is] leaning toward approving the application regardless of any deficiencies.” This fact was already clear to anyone that has attended DEQ hearings/public forums on the issue. To be as polite as possible, the DEQ has found it difficult to mask their disregard for us Yoopers and citizens of Michigan.

Citizens rally in front of Michigan Capitol Building, December 2005; Photo courtesy Andy Gregg

Michigan DEQ noted 91 technical deficiencies in Kennecott’s original application. In response, Kennecott submitted new information that addressed more than half of these shortcomings. Certain deficiencies have yet to be addressed: an adequate plan for monitoring groundwater near chemical storage facilities and for monitoring water quality downstream from the holding basins; an adequate plan to monitor levels of air contamination in the mine and how those contaminates might make their way into the groundwater; adequate information on a “rigorous analysis technique” in relationship to subsidence and the stability of the roof of the underground mine; adequate tables and maps describing the mine’s impact on hydrology.

It is this deficient application that is awaiting final DEQ approval in May.

While Kennecott’s dismal environmental record has been utilized in fighting the approval of the Eagle Project application, one aspect of the company’s record has been overlooked. From the onset, the majority of opposition groups have been unwilling to emphasize Kennecott/Rio Tinto’s record regarding Geneva Convention and UN Resolution violations. Discussion of the company’s activities in Ontario, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and Chile is avoided in an attempt to not appear confrontational, emotional, or radical – perhaps for funding reasons and to ensure a seat at the DEQ’s table.

Citizen opposition to a potential Exxon/Rio Algom mine, south of Crandon, led to the formation of the Wisconsin Review Commission. Chaired by Secretary of State Douglas LaFollette, the Commission recorded testimony by indigenous people from Alaska, Colombia, Ontario and New Mexico regarding Exxon’s mining and oil drilling activities and chemical and oil leaks. When the Commission released its report on March 24, 1995, LaFollette urged the state legislature to approve “bad actor” legislation, requiring the state to consider a company’s past performance before approving state mining permits.

Professor Al Gedicks, of University Wisconsin, LaCrosse, used this kind of information in assisting Wisconsin’s opposition to both the Crandon and Flambeau mines. Gedick’s vast experience and exceptional public speaking skills have been little-utilized in Michigan’s opposition to the Eagle Project. There must be openness on the part of the organized opposition, in Michigan, to use everything it can, particularly those tactics that have proven successful, if the intent is to prevent Kennecott’s mine from opening.

Rio Algom’s (a Rio Tinto subsidiary) Elliot Lake, Ontario, uranium mine, only a few hours east of Marquette, MI, is one facet of this record that should concern citizens of the Michigan, particularly as global mining companies, salivating over likely DEQ cooperation, are currently exploring the area for uranium.

From 1956 to 1959, Elliot Lake was the primary supplier of uranium yellowcake to the US military, which was used to manufacture this country’s massive nuclear arsenal. The Elliot Lake and Rossing, Namibia facilities have also supplied Great Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons arsenal. Now, more than 60 years after the US dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Canadian-based Cameco Corporation’s current exploration (a joint venture with Bitterroot Resources Ltd.) for uranium in the Upper Peninsula should cause all of us concern. There are currently two large markets for uranium: to fuel nuclear power plants, and for use in US and Israeli weapons systems. Prior to the 1940s there was not a large market for mined uranium. Rio Tinto created a market for its uranium then. The current US administration’s plan for a “new nuclear weapons system” hinges perhaps on the potential for uranium extraction in our area.

At Elliot Lake, numerous worker deaths have been caused by inhalation of uranium dust. Also, the local Serpent River Band of Chippewa community suffered many horrendous birth defects due to uranium poisoning of the Serpent River. Driving through Elliot Lake, via Highway 17, one will find billboards of studio-produced “nature” photos with the motto, “Elliot Lake: Footsteps to Nature.” This type of billboard is found only in this, the most environmentally-devastated part of Ontario.

On June 12, 1982, the largest public demonstration in US history occurred in Central Park. Close to one million people rallied for a moratorium on US and Russian nuclear weapon production. Although each successive US administration has ignored continued public opposition to nuclear weapons production, there remains a groundswell of support for an end to uranium extraction, the construction of nuclear power plants, and nuclear weapons production.

US citizens are becoming aware of these company’s records regarding uranium extraction and metallic sulfide mining. Today, the environmental and economic devastation caused by the global mining industry has become a part of our collective conscience. Most citizens now know something of the suffering caused by uranium extraction in the Four Corners area of the southwestern US and acid mine drainage in the Rocky Mountain Region. Even supporters of the Eagle Project recognize this long and inglorious history.

Massive citizen opposition, due largely to discussion of Exxon/Rio Algom, BHP-Billiton, and Kennecott/Rio Tinto’s track records, led to Wisconsin’s passage of a “moratorium” on metallic sulfide mining. The law requires that a company provide examples of one such mine that was operated for at least 10 years, closed for at least 10 years and successfully reclaimed – without polluting ground or surface water.

Mining giant BHP-Billiton’s subsidiary, Nicolet Minerals Co. attempted to bypass the moratorium, in an attempt to secure approval for a mine south of Crandon. BHP cited the Sacaton Mine, in Casa Grande, Arizona, the Cullaton mine in the Nunavut Territory, Canada, and the McLaughlin mine in Lower Lake, California.

Cullaton was used as an example of a mine that was closed 10 years without polluting and McLaughlin an example of a mine operating cleanly for 10 years. According to DNR attorney Charles Hammer, Wisconsin DNR decided in May, 2002 that the company didn’t submit enough information about the Sacaton Mine and the agency couldn’t decide if it was a good example.

Cullaton had not been closed for 10 years at that point and samples taken from a pool of water near dead vegetation showed acidic levels that breached the mine’s water license. In the case of Sacaton, Nicolet Minerals offered to submit more information, however, Wisconsin DNR is still unable to approve a metallic sulfide mine in the state, based upon the moratorium’s criteria.

Michigan DEQ has noted from the beginnings of the Michigan statute and rules process that they will not allow consideration of a moratorium, going so far as to specify that discussion of Wisconsin’s mining moratorium law would not be permitted. In 2004, the DEQ omitted this writer’s public comments regarding Kennecott/Rio Tinto’s global track record, fully cognizant that this same discussion in Wisconsin led directly to the moratorium. If we are to prevent, if not this mine, a future of metallic sulfide and uranium mining in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan citizens must be willing to discuss this egregious track record. It worked in causing citizen outrage in Wisconsin and there is little reason to expect anything different in our situation.

At a May 2, 2005, “Citizens Advisory Group” meeting, I asked Jon Cherry, Eagle Project Manager, if there was an example of a metallic sulfide mine that could pass scrutiny under Wisconsin’s mining law. “There is one in Nevada,” Cherry replied. When asked what the mine’s name was Cherry said that he was “not sure.” The fact is that every metallic sulfide mine in the world has adversely affected the environment, which is why Kennecott, and others, cannot mine in Wisconsin.

Although the company cannot pass scrutiny under Wisconsin’s moratorium law, Kennecott refers to its now-closed Flambeau Mine as an example of a successful metallic sulfide mine. Wisconsin DNR and company monitoring of the Flambeau River shows levels of mine contaminants in sediment and crayfish to be 10 to 100 times higher than Kennecott’s independent data anticipated during the permit process for that mine. Following the disclosure of these results, Kennecott ended the process of collecting and testing fish, sediment, and crayfish samples. This mine is currently undergoing various stages of cleanup. The area’s topsoil was contaminated to such an extent as to require its removal from the site in 2003.

Following the closure of the Flambeau Mine, Rusk County’s unemployment rate was higher than it had been before the mine was opened. Twice during the 4-year life of the mine (1993 to 1997), the county had the highest unemployment rate in the state.

A popular argument among supporters of the Eagle Project is that the Upper Peninsula has a rich history of mining and, concurrently, that “we need jobs.” Apparently, these few supporters, such as TV-6’s Brad van Sluyters, feel that the benefit of a handful of jobs in the short-term will offset an overall loss of jobs and tourism dollars. There are also high costs pertaining to highway maintenance and construction as well as mine reclamation that will inevitably rely on local taxpayer dollars if the UP is converted into a metallic sulfide mining district.

In Wisconsin, Kennecott successfully engaged in what became known as the “consensus process” that eventually secured its bid to open the Flambeau Mine. The consensus process effectively co-opted the energies of the opposition, resulting in lax rules regarding the mine’s function. Here, as in Wisconsin, Kennecott has been able to help write the very rules that will govern their potential mining operation. Due to the opposition’s involvement in the statute/rules process, the DEQ and Kennecott now claim that laws governing metallic sulfide mining are the “strictest in the nation” and the process has been inclusive of all parties involved.

In retrospect, citizen participation, conditional on the DEQ allowing discussion of a moratorium and Kennecott/Rio Tinto’s track record, would have proven invaluable. Much of the organized opposition’s energy was spent on this process. Fortunately, citizen discontent remains high. In the Fall of 2006, Save the Wild UP collected signatures from over 10,000 citizens opposed to Kennecott’s proposed mine.

The mining battle in Wisconsin provides a contemporary example of massive citizen opposition to unsafe mineral extraction. It has been proven on numerous occasions that ordinary citizens, when persistent, can effectively protect their local economy and land, air, and water. This has only come when refusing to play by company rules, whether or not those rules are upheld by public officials.

Citizens must continue to protest this potential metallic sulfide mine. Protesting is relatively cheap and more effective than many people realize. During Wisconsin’s battle for a moratorium more than 400 citizens protested on the Capitol steps. In Marquette, on August 4, 2005, over 400 citizens showed for the first DEQ public hearing on the Eagle project. Nearly every single public comment, representing a wide range of issues, was in opposition to the mine. Despite state geologist Hal Fitch’s remarks that much of the testimony raised “premature questions,” the DEQ was visibly rattled by the large opposition. Since, they have attempted to dilute the power of these mass gatherings. Tactics include holding hearings over longer periods of time, during work hours, and when college students and faculty are away during breaks.

Upcoming DEQ hearings take place at Northern Michigan University’s University Center, in Marquette, MI on March 6, 7, and 8 from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm and 6:00pm to 9:00 pm. A large crowd, as there was 2 years ago, will send a powerful message to the Governor that this mine will not be welcomed. Stopping this mine requires only that we all defy DEQ expectations and simply show up.

Folk singer Utah Phillips said that “those ruining the Earth have names and addresses.” They also have shareholder meetings and track records. We need to utilize this information in order protect public health, a sustainable economy, and our waters of Lake Superior.

References:

Bitterroot Resources Ltd.

Gedicks, Al. The New Resource Wars: Native and Environmental Struggles Against Multinational Corporations. Cambridge. South End Press. 1993.

Gedicks, Al. “What You Should Know About the Proposed Crandon/Mole Lake Mine” Wisconsin Resources Protection Council. August 1999.

Gedicks, Al. Resource Rebels: Native Challenges to Mining and Oil Companies. Cambridge. South End Press. 2001.

Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. “Contaminated Discharge Continues at Kennecott Mineral’s Flambeau Mine.” April 5, 2006

LaDuke, Winona. All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. Cambridge. South End Press. 1999.

Moody, Roger. Plunder! London. PARTIZANS. 1991.

Moody, Roger. The Gulliver Files: Mines People and Land: A Global Battlefield. London. Minewatch. 1992.Northwoods Wilderness Recovery. News Release. December 15, 2006

The Real Mining News. “Moratorium Example Mines Nothing Like Crandon” Rusk County Citizen Action Group. March 1999.

Wisconsin DNR, 1997 Act 171. Mining Moratorium Law.

Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, “Keepers of the Water.” VHS. 1997

WLUCTV-6. “DEQ Ruling.” Presented by Brad van Sluyters. January 13, 2007.

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York. Harper Collins. 2003.