An opinion article by Marquette resident John Scram . . .
Rio Tinto, Kennecott’s parent company, has the attention of the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council.) The NRDC is protesting the Pebble mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay.
The NRDC describes Rio Tinto as a London-based mining conglomerate that has left a trail of toxic contamination from Indonesia to Utah. In 1996, a dam failed at the Porco mine in Bolivia where Rio Tinto had a significant interest. A Belgian scientist working in the region reports the rivers are totally dead. Read the rest of this entry »
The Front 40 , a grassroots citizen group in Menominee County working to protect the Menominee River and the Shakey Lakes Savanna from metallic sulfide mining, just revamped their website. Check out their new look at MenomineeRiver.org.
Rio Tinto has notified the Ottawa National Forest of plans to explore for minerals within the federal forest. While the federal government owns surface rights to the parcel, the minerals are privately-owned, so the Forest Service is obligated to approve the exploration request.
Rio Tinto plans to drill about 9 miles north of Kenton, in Houghton County, Michigan, on the Ontonagon Ranger District.
Kristen Mariuzza, who worked for the Michigan DEQ, reviewed Rio Tinto’s wastewater treatment plans, and signed off on them, began working for the company shortly after approving their plan. Here, in this TV6 PR piece on Rio “right on schedule” Tinto, Mariuzza explains the plan she approved and now works on will protect water quality.
Yesterday, some local elected officials met with the Marquette County Road Commission to discuss whether or not to move forward on Rio Tinto’s County Road 595/Woodland Road ore hauling project. The meeting was closed to the public. Read the rest of this entry »
Following reporting by Headwaters that Rio Tinto’s original ore hauling transportation route for its Eagle Mine called for the company to access existing rail networks and avoiding trucking transportation through city streets, the company now has a response. Read the rest of this entry »
Editorial from Headwaters on the Rio Tinto ore hauling controversy:
Last week Rio Tinto announced plans to drop its pursuit of the 22-mile 595/Woodland Road to haul ore from its Eagle Mine to the Humboldt Mill, in Marquette County. The company’s project director, Andrew Ware, claimed Rio Tinto will now “move forward with the originally designated route” and drive through the city streets of Marquette.
According to Anderson, other efforts to protect the environment will likely include the use of a “continuous miner” machine that would grind the rock below the surface—reducing dust emissions at the surface—and gravity-feed it to a conveyor system, a process he describes as “the most economically or green” method available. Anderson says countries “more advanced” than the United States are already using this mining method and seems to lament the weaknesses in federal and state environmental laws, including Michigan’s “Part 632” mining law that regulates nonferrous, or non iron ore mining in the state. Read the rest of this entry »
Rio Tinto (Kennecott’s parent company) has come to appreciate the ease that comes with securing permits through the State of Michigan, rather than the federal government. Now, with state regulatory departments combining to form the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the company is likely to get what it wants more quickly in order to try opening the Eagle Mine this year.
From an article by the AP‘s John Flesher:
A company preparing to build a nickel and copper mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula wants to change its wastewater treatment system in a way that could negate the requirement for a federal permit, officials said Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »
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