January 15, 2010
Dept. rules that sacred rock is ‘not a place of worship’
by Eartha Melzer, Michigan Messenger
A member of the Summer Cloud drumming group performs during a 2008 ceremony at Eagle Rock
Two days before the DEQ ceases to exist and a week after its director stepped down, DEQ moved to wrap up a long standing fight over permits for a planned nickel sulfide mine by concluding that only buildings may be considered “places of worship.”
A rock that is sacred to Anishnabe people need not be considered when issuing a mining permit because state law only recognizes buildings as places of worship, the Department of Environmental Quality announced Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »
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Eagle Mine, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Law, Michigan, indigenous, public land | Tagged: deq, Eagle Mine, Kennecott, Law, Michigan, native american, public land, Rio Tinto, yellow dog plains | 
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Posted by LSMN
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 »
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Posted by LSMN
November 7, 2009
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
March 6, 2009
by Gabriel Caplett
Humboldt, Michigan – While a blizzard raged in the eastern part of the county, about 100 citizens attended a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) hearing on a mining application for Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s proposed Humboldt Mill project. Comments were starkly divided between those citing perceived job creation as motivation for their support of the project and those concerned about the proposed Eagle Project and potential for water pollution and fugitive dust problems at the site. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
January 25, 2009
by Gabriel Caplett
Marquette County, Michigan – New information has surfaced suggesting that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) assisted Kennecott-Rio Tinto by forgoing proper procedure in allowing the company to reconstruct a road crossing in Fall of 2004. With Kennecott’s persistence, the DEQ approved an ill-designed plan to install a new culvert on the Triple A Road where a branch of the Salmon Trout River flows. Kennecott was contracting with Pete O’Dovero, of Associated Contractors, to rehabilitate the road crossing. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
August 27, 2008
by Gabriel Caplett
Kennecott and the DEQ attempted to bypass Michigan’s “Part 632” metallic mining law by contracting construction of a haul road from the Yellow Dog Plains to the old HumboldtMine (where Kennecott intends to build a processing facility) and running power to its proposed mine along county roads’ 550, 510 and AAA.
Plans for a haul road and electric power were only revealed to the public after the DEQ approved Kennecott’s proposed Eagle Mine plans and were not considered in the permit. Because Part 632 considers metallic “mining activity” to include “construction of haul roads” and construction of utilities or extension of existing utilities,” Kennecott is legally required to submit an amendment request to the DEQ for recent changes to its permit. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
June 25, 2008
by Gabriel Caplett
Since first announcing plans for its nickel-copper Eagle Project mine, Kennecott Minerals – a subsidiary of London-based Rio Tinto – and the State of Michigan have tried to portray the mine as “a done deal.” At each step in the approval process, new information has been presented to the public, thus breaking up the full effects of Kennecott’s mining plans into smaller, presumably easier to digest, segments.
At the same time, science not conducive to an honest approval of Kennecott’s plans has been suppressed while public comment has been nearly entirely disregarded. The Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Deputy Director, Skip Pruss, has gone so far as to refer to public comment as “chaff.”
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) treaty rights with the US government have been equally disregarded, as well as KBIC’s concerns with blasting into and fencing-off Eagle Rock, a culturally sensitive and sacred rock outcropping on the Yellow Dog Plains.
State legislators and officials have assisted Kennecott by presenting approval of their mine as simply a legal and legislative process, disregarding the power of ordinary citizens to effectively stop development of an unpopular mining plan. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
February 23, 2008
by Gabriel Caplett
MARQUETTE – Forty-six citizens packed the chairs in a small room at the Ramada Inn, in Marquette, February 22, for a Kennecott-sponsored “Citizen Advisory Group” (CAG) meeting. Many citizens attended the meeting to express disappointment that Kennecott has kept many of its mining plans secret until after State approvals of its project.
Kennecott’s previous CAG meetings have required the public to sit, quietly, as Kennecott would give a well-rehearsed presentation with other members of the CAG board. CAG members were hand-picked by Kennecott and are not viewed by the public as representing citizens. The public was only allowed to introduce questions or concerns during bathroom breaks to CAG board members, who would then choose whether or not the question would be presented. The meetings are held during normal business hours when many people in the community have prior work obligations. Today, prior to the meeting, Bill Rustem, group facilitator and Kennecott consultant, confirmed that there would not be public comment at the meeting. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
February 16, 2008
by Gabriel Caplett
Twenty-nine people made it to Harlow Park, in Marquette, on a cold Valentine’s Day evening, last week, to show their appreciation for the Yellow Dog Plains and express dissatisfaction with the Michigan Department of Natural Resource’s (DNR) approval of Kennecott’s surface land use lease and mining reclamation plan. Simultaneous vigils were held in Big Bay and on Eagle Rock, on the Plains. The event was organized by Yellow Dog Summer and sponsored by Keepers of the Water, Northwoods Wilderness Recovery and Save the Wild UP. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
December 20, 2007
by Gabriel Caplett
One week after a controversial decision by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to permit a sulfide mine in the central Upper Peninsula, the National Wildlife Federation, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Huron Mountain Club and Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve today filed a contested case petition and a lawsuit against the MDEQ as the first step in a legal challenge to halt the mine.
“The opponents of the mine have presented MDEQ with over 1000 pages of unequivocal evidence that Kennecott’s proposed sulfide mine does not meet the state’s legal requirements and would result in profound pollution, impairment, and destruction of air, water and other natural resources,” Michelle Halley, attorney for NWF and the other co-petitioners explained. “The MDEQ has issued permits that are based upon defective, inadequate and incomplete applications and are therefore illegal,” she added. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by LSMN
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