Michigan DEQ: Rotten to the Core

November 24, 2009

Gabriel Caplett – LSMN Editor

Russ Harding,  first director of Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality,  recently attacked a bill, introduced by Representative Dan Scripps, to protect our water resources and economy from irresponsible corporate exploitation.  Harding also wrote a letter to the Mining Journal, making the dishonest claim that a ballot proposal “effectively bans future mining in Michigan.” Harding’s background as a staunch defender of Dow Chemical has shown him to be an apologist for corporate interests , even when doing so threatens public health. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lawmakers Downplay Possibility of U.P. Uranium Mining

November 14, 2009

But mining company spent more than $700,000 on U.P. uranium exploration in 2009

By Eartha Jane Melzer, Michigan Messenger

Upper Peninsula lawmakers are railing against a ballot measure to create standards for uranium mining, claiming that no uranium ore has been discovered in Michigan. However, a Canadian uranium mining company says it’s found uranium in the U.P., scientists have warned that its uranium exploration could harm groundwater, and the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department is warning that residential wells in several counties already have elevated levels of the radioactive metal.

In a statement this week, Sen. Mike Prusi (D-Ishpeming), Sen. Jason Allen (R-Traverse City), Rep. Mike Lahti (D-Hancock), Rep. Steve Lindberg (D-Marquette) and Rep. Judy Nerat (D-Wallace) accused sponsors of a proposed 2010 ballot measure on mining of talking about uranium mining in order to scare people and destroy the mining industry.

“No ‘uranium mining’ activity has ever existed,” the lawmakers stated, “nor has any uranium ore been discovered, in our state.”

However, according to a July 2009 financial report from Bitterroot Resources Ltd., a 17-hole uranium exploration drilling program concluded last December “identified several areas which warrant additional exploration.” The company said it spent $717,403 on Michigan uranium exploration in the first nine months of 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

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Michigan Politicians Oppose Mining Ballot Proposal

November 11, 2009
Upper Peninsula politicans have issued a statement opposing a ballot proposal to somewhat strengthen Michigan law regulating metallic sulfide mining and impose restrictions on uranium mining.
MikePrusi

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.”

A joint venture between Bitterroot Resources and uranium giant, Cameco, continues to actively search the U.P. for uranium deposits.

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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No U.P. Uranium?

November 10, 2009

Gail Griffith – Retired Professor of Chemistry, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan

In a recent letter to the Mining Journal titled “No U.P. Uranium”, there is a statement: “There is no uranium ore anywhere in the state of Michigan.”  The important word here is “ore”, which is defined as a naturally occurring material that can be profitably mined.  This does not mean that there is no uranium in the state of Michigan.  It means that no one has yet found of a profitable ore body.

The evidence for the presence of uranium in the U.P. is strong. Read the rest of this entry »

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Mining Laws Not Enforced in Michigan

November 9, 2009

Teresa Bertossi - LSMN Writer

A Mining Journal editorial on an environmental ballot proposal (Oct. 21) claimed that Michigan has “significant regulations in place to insure that mining does not damage our environment.”

While I am not involved in the ballot campaign, I have to ask if those “significant” regulations are being followed.

Last September, DEQ Director Steven Chester said, “We simply don’t have the kind of funding we need to adequately implement the laws we’re required to implement.”

In court, Joe Maki, the DEQ’s application review coordinator for Kennecott’s Eagle Project, said his agency did not consider a central tenet of Michigan’s current sulfide mining law requiring that a mine application has to establish that the proposed mining operation “reasonably minimize[s] actual or potential adverse impacts on air, water and other natural resources.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Michigan DEQ Wants Judge to Reconsider Recommendation Protecting Native American Sacred Site

November 7, 2009
Steven Chester, Michigan DEQ Director

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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Colorado Towns Oppose Uranium Mine; State to Strengthen Mining Laws

October 19, 2009
Mining engineers have condemned it, the State’s own expert called it

Warning sign outside Cameco's Crow Butte uranium mine, in Nebraska; Photo courtesy of the Lakota Media Project of Owe Aku

Warning sign outside Cameco's Crow Butte uranium mine, in Nebraska; Photo courtesy of the Lakota Media Project of Owe Aku

“technically aniquated, sloppy and equivalent to high school level work,” Native Americans insist that it violates their internationally-recognized treaty rights, and 10,000 citizens in this sparsely-populated area signed a petition opposing it.  Yet, citizens of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula would be hard-pressed to name a single county or state elected official opposed to Rio Tinto’s proposed metallic sulfide Eagle Mine, in northern Marquette County.

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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Stop the Hypocrisy: Rio Tinto Organizing “Citizen” Campaigns?

October 17, 2009

Gabriel Caplett – LSMN Editor

Is anyone else confused about an Associated Press story the Mining Journal ran on October 15?

The article, on a planned ballot initiative to somewhat strengthen Michigan’s weak metallic sulfide mining laws, quotes Deb Muchmore, “a spokeswoman for Citizens to Protect Michigan Jobs.”

The article makes no mention that Muchmore has been Rio Tinto’s lead public relations spokesperson for years as they attempt to open the Eagle Mine in Marquette County. Read the rest of this entry »

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Kennecott Spokeswoman Organizes “Citizen” Campaign

October 15, 2009

Apparently, with the lack of a true citizen initiative to defeat a proposed hardrock mining reform ballot initiative in Michigan, Kennecott (wholly-owned subsidiary of mining giant, Rio Tinto) is organizing a “citizen” campaign to defeat the initiative, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Kennecott’s spokeswoman for the proposed Eagle Mine, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is Deb Muchmore.  While retaining that post, Muchmore is now, curiously, spokeswoman for Citizens to Protect Michigan Jobs, a “developing opposition group that is expected to soon include mining interests.”  It is unclear at this time if Muchmore is being paid by Kennecott to spearhead the company’s front group.

2 Comments | Eagle Mine, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Law | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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New Bill to Push Water and Job Protection

September 4, 2009

State Representative Dan Scripps (Leland) has announced his intent to promote legislation in an effort to protect all of Michigan’s water from pollution while affirming that all water “including lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater. . . should be clearly defined as a public resource, giving them the same protections against privatization as the Great Lakes and all surface water.”

State Representative Dan Scripps

State Representative Dan Scripps

Speaking in Glen Arbor, on September 2, Scripps said, “We’re surrounded by 20 percent of the world’s fresh water, and with that blessing comes an incredible responsibility.

“We must act as responsible stewards of our waters and preserve our lakes, rivers and beaches for future generations. Read the rest of this entry »

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