Video: Hearing on Rio Tinto’s Michigan Haul Road
February 11, 2010
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Eagle Mine, economy, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Law, Michigan, public land, water pollution, wildlife | Tagged: civil disobedience, Eagle Mine, Kennecott, Law, Michigan, public land, Rio Tinto, water pollution, wildlife | 
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Rio Tinto Reneging on Power Upgrade Plans
February 10, 2010Despite claiming at public meetings in Powell Township that a $6.4 million power upgrade specifically for the proposed Eagle Mine would be paid for by Rio Tinto, the Alger Delta Electric Co-op is suing the owner of Granot Loma Farms for not giving up his property for free for the project. 
“This is a capitalist country”, said Tom Baldwin. “They should pay for the easements. I’m willing to sell it. I don’t have a problem with that. But I didn’t buy my property so Kennecott could profit.”
Alger Delta’s General Manager, Tom Harrell said that if the utility had to compensate Baldwin for his property “that just drives up the cost of electricity for everybody.”
Baldwin contends that Alger Delta has paid non-customers for easements.
“Membership is like being a prisoner, because they have a monopoly and you have to buy electricity from them”, Baldwin said.
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More Coverage: Controversial Kennecott mine permits OK’d at 11th hour
January 15, 2010Dept. 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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Through the Looking Glass: Michigan DEQ Says Michigan DEQ Followed Law In Rio Tinto Approval
January 14, 2010The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced today that it is giving final approval of Rio Tinto’s proposed Eagle Mine project, located on public land in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The decision comes during a time of transition for the agency. Steven Chester resigned from his post as head of the DEQ three week’s ago and was temporarily replaced by Deputy Director Jim Sygo. Today’s news release issued by the DEQ does not indicate who, at the agency, made today’s decision.
According to DEQ press secretary, Bob McCann, Jim Sygo “delegated” decision-making authority to Frank Ruswick, DEQ Senior Policy Advisor, who ”conducted the review of the case and made the decision to sign the final order.”
The DEQ had earlier approved Rio Tinto’s mining application in December 2007. The decision was appealed in a lengthy contested case hearing.
In an August 2009 recommendation, Administrative Law Judge Richard Patterson stated that Rio Tinto and the MDEQ “did not properly address the impact on the sacred rock outcrop known as Eagle Rock” and suggested moving the mine’s entry portal away from the rock. During the contested case , 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.
In November, then DEQ Director Steven Chester requested that Judge Patterson clarify his position on the one stipulation that wasn’t fully in Rio Tinto’s favor.
Today’s DEQ decision affirms the agency’s opinion that Eagle Rock is not a legitimate place of worship, as defined under Michigan mining law, and that the religious rights of area Native Americans are irrelevant in the Eagle Mine case. Read the rest of this entry »
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Marquette City Commission Opposes Water-Mining Ballot; City Endorsed Ballot Provision In Past (with Video)
December 15, 2009After 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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Economy, Water and Government Corruption Main Themes at Rio Tinto Humboldt Mill Hearing; Two Federal Agencies Opposed to Michigan’s Approval
December 3, 2009Westwood High School, Ishpeming, Michigan – Perhaps reflective of a general lack of responsiveness at the state level on the metallic sulfide mining controversy in Michigan, few attended a hearing on Rio Tinto’s proposed Humboldt Township milling facility, located in western Marquette County. As with a previous hearing, in February, employment, water quality, worker safety and incompetence at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Rio Tinto were primary themes.
Baraga County Mine Inspector, Don Carlson, expressed concern that fugitive dust leaving the proposed mill site could affect worker’s health and the health of their families since he has not seen an adequate plan to both capture and dispose of the fine material. Carlson also highlighted Michigan’s poor economy – Baraga County has one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates - and said that any mining jobs need to be performed by union workers, citing the closed White Pine Mine as a good example of how workers could be treated.
“When this company comes to the area are the area people going to be hired or are the companies going to bring the people from other areas,” questioned Carlson. “We have an influx in Michigan of no jobs, people being laid off every day, all these types of things and these workers aren’t being able to go and get a job, a union job, with these companies.”
Rio Tinto, a notorious anti-worker company has drawn the ire of union workers around the world and is currently attempting to bust Local 30 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, AFL-CIO, at the company’s large open pit Borax Mine, in California.
Chris Mofatt, a Marquette County prison worker and lifelong Upper Peninsula resident said, “I don’t oppose mining, I don’t oppose jobs, but I do oppose liars and I think that Rio Tinto and the DEQ are not credible.”
“Rio Tinto’s track record is poor,” said Mofatt. “They want to come in here and do the same thing in the UP they’ve done in other countries. I oppose that. Michigan deserves better than that and we’re not getting it right now. Our corporate government wants to run an eighteenth century industry down the throat of twenty-first century enfranchised Americans. . . we deserve better and so does everybody in the world because we have twenty percent of the fresh water.”
According to Keweenaw Bay Indian Community geologist, Chuck Brumleve, the DEQ’s approval of the Humboldt Project is currently opposed by both the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Yet, in an interview with WLUC-TV6, 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.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Michigan Politicians Oppose Mining Ballot Proposal
November 11, 2009
Michigan Senator Mike Prusi was one of five politicians to issue a statement attacking a proposed mining ballot; Photo courtesy State of Michigan
State senators Mike Prusi and Jason Allen, as well as state representatives Michael Lahti, Steven Lindberg and Judy Nerat issued the statement claiming the proposal attacks the Upper Peninsula’s (U.P.) economic interests.
Perhaps using erroneous information from mine supporters, the politicans claim that the ballot’s focus on uranium mining is a scare tactic as ” no ‘uranium mining activity has ever existed, nor has any uranium ore been discovered, in our state.”
Dishonestly, the politicans claim that the ballot proposal would “BAN any future mining.” The ballot proposal affects only “Part 632″ Michigan mining law, which regulates only nonferrous metal mining.
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Michigan DEQ Wants Judge to Reconsider Recommendation Protecting Native American Sacred Site
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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Rio Tinto Sees Increased Metal Demand from China, Will Increase Project Expenditures in 2010
November 4, 2009
Whether or not it ever was truly “deferred,” Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s Eagle Mine, in the Huron Mountains of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula may become a top priority for the London miner next year.
According to the Financial Times, Rio Tinto intends to spend $5 – $6 billion on project development in 2010.
Where’s the demand for upper Great Lakes metal coming from? According to CEO Tom Albanese the company’s three primary markets for metals are “China, China – and then again, I would say, China.”
Speaking in London, Albanese stressed that the company’s relationship with China is of “critical importance to Rio Tinto.”
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Marquette County Approves Public Portion of Rio Tinto’s Haul Road for Proposed Eagle Mine
October 20, 2009
Sticker distributed before meeting by Rio Tinto's Senior Advisor for Government and Community Relations, Chantae Lessard
West Ishpeming, Michigan - Last week Rio Tinto’s head spokesperson for the proposed Eagle Mine, Deb Muchmore, informed AP that she is the new spokeswoman for a “citizen” campaign: Citizens to Protect Michigan Jobs. Today’s public meeting regarding Rio Tinto’s proposed haul road, for the mine, featured public comment from a number of current and potential Rio Tinto employees, many sporting pro-road stickers passed out by Chantae Lessard, Senior Advisor for Government and Community Relations for Rio Tinto.
The organizing effort paid off for the company with a large turnout in support of the project Read the rest of this entry »
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