From Marquette, Michigan’s TV6:
A Canadian National Railroad locomotive and an LS&I Railroad made contact with a propane tank car at the LS&I Eagle Mills yard early Friday morning. Read the rest of this entry »
Homes Evacuated After Cliffs’ Rail Accident
February 12, 2010
Leave a Comment » | 
Cliffs Natural Resources, Health, Michigan | Tagged: Rio Tinto, Michigan, cliffs, mine safety | 
Permalink
Posted by LSMN
Report Shows Kennecott Tailings Dam Could Fail
October 25, 2009From the Salt Lake Tribune:
Although those tailings could sweep across State Road 201 like a “violent and intense” flash flood in a 7.25-magnitude temblor, an independent investigation has determined that the slurry likely would stop before reaching any homes or buildings.
If a major earthquake strikes the Salt Lake Valley, Kennecott’s mine-tailings impoundment on the northern edge of Magna could fail and spill soupy sediment more than twice as far as the copper company had predicted.
In March 2008, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Kennecott Utah Copper had concealed, since 1988, the potential for a major earthquake-caused tailings disaster in Magna, Utah. The tailings impoundment is located north of Magna and stores an estimated 1 billion tons of fine mine wastes. In 1992, the company conducted a “risk assessment” to determine if full containment of the impoundment would be more expensive than legal costs associated with property damage and citizen deaths.
The Tribune published a 1997 confidential memo, written by Ray D. Gardner, former Chief Legal Officer for Kennecott, that is highly critical of the company’s handling of the potential tailings disaster: “Prior management’s decisions to disregard and conceal legal advice, forego public notice, attempt to establish a residential buffer surreptitiously, collude with the State Engineer to withhold the KL studies from the public, and restrict the distribution of the Reduction Study, collectively and individually, give the appearance of a conspiracy to cover-up a profound threat to public safety.” Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Health, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, water pollution, workers | Tagged: Rio Tinto, Kennecott, water pollution, workers, mine safety | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
Rio Tinto’s Eagle Mine Faces Scrutiny from Mining Expert
May 8, 2009by Gabriel Caplett
“After three years of studying the application and related documents my original opinion has not changed, but I would add a conclusion that either the writers and all of the reviewers were not experienced and competent in mining and geology, or that their intent was to deceive, to ensure that permits would be issued without delay. Maybe both.” – Jack Parker
Marquette, MI – Kennecott Mineral’s Eagle Mine application is incompetent, at best, and fraudulent, at worst. That according to mining expert Jack Parker.
In a new thirty-three page report, entitled KEMC Eagle Project: A Fraudulent Permit Application?, Parker outlines several, but not all, of the major problems with the underground portion of the company’s mine application. In part, according to Parker, the project, (formally approved by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in 2007 following delays associated with the suppression of documents critical of the mine’s design), was designed using “doctored” data, a “misinterpretation” of surficial geology and rock stress, and lacked reference to applicable mine case histories and a “sound mining analysis to prevent the mine from collapsing.”
Click the following link for Jack Parker’s report. . .“KEMC Eagle Project: A Fraudulent Permit Application?” Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Eagle Mine, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Law, Michigan, workers | Tagged: Rio Tinto, Kennecott, Michigan, workers, mine safety, Jack Parker | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
UP Citizens Return to London to Address Rio Tinto’s Annual General Meeting
April 15, 2009by Gabriel Caplett
London, England – A beleaguered Rio Tinto board defended itself from criticisms coming from a number of shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) Wednesday, in London, England. High on shareholder’s minds was the proposed $19.5 billion deal to sell access to a number of key company assets, including Kennecott, to the Chinese government-owned Chinalco as part of what many speakers described as offensive to existing shareholders and a direct result of poor investment and management decisions made by the company over the last several years. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Eagle Mine, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Michigan, human rights, workers | Tagged: Rio Tinto, Kennecott, Michigan, human rights, Eagle Mine, mine safety | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
UP Citizens and KBIC Vice-President Address Rio Tinto Board in London
April 19, 2008by Gabriel Caplett
London, UK - Four citizens from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula attended Rio Tinto’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center (QEII), in London, England. Speakers included Susan LaFernier, vice-president of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), Gabriel Caplett from Yellow Dog Summer and Northwoods Wilderness Recovery, and Cynthia Pryor, from the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve. Fran Whitman, from Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK), attended but was unable to speak in front of the assembly.
To the crowd of roughly 300 shareholders and journalists, LaFernier addressed the threat to Native American ceded treaty rights with the US government, from 1842 and 1954 treaties. Rio Tinto chairman, Paul Skinner, interrupted LaFernier’s introduction, instructing the tribal leader to ask only one question, although a shareholder had just previously been able to ask three questions. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Eagle Mine, Health, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Wisconsin, human rights, indigenous, workers | Tagged: Eagle Mine, Kennecott, mine safety, native american, public health, Rio Tinto, west papua, workers | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
Updates on Kennecott and Cameco
April 11, 2008by Gabriel Caplett
Tailings coverup/Uranium spills/Controversial Utah exploration/Salmon-Trout erosion/Aboriginal artifacts/New China partnership….
Kennecott under investigation for tailings cover-up
Kennecott is currently under investigation for covering-up, since 1988, the potential for a major earthquake-caused tailings disaster at the company’s tailings impoundment, in Magna, Utah. The impoundment holds roughly 1 billion tons of fine mine wastes.
Utah’s Dam Safety Inspector is siding with the company, although legislators, officials and the public are calling for an independent investigation, saying the company’s current data cannot be trusted.
The cover-up implicates the Utah State Engineer’s office and Kennecott officials, from 1988 up to the present. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | China, Eagle Mine, Health, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, cameco, economy, indigenous, uranium, water pollution | Tagged: cameco, indigenous, Kennecott, mine safety, public health, Rio Tinto, uranium, water pollution | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
Kennecott Hides Potential for Deadly Tailings Disaster
March 23, 2008by Gabriel Caplett
Magna, Utah - The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that Kennecott Utah Copper Corp. has concealed, since 1988, the potential for an earthquake-caused major tailings disaster in Magna, Utah. The tailings impoundment is located north of Magna and stores an estimated 1 billion tons of fine mine wastes. In 1992, the company conducted a “risk assessment” to determine if full containment of the impoundment would be more expensive than legal costs associated with property damage and citizen deaths.
The Tribune has published a 1997 confidential memo, written by Ray D. Gardner, former Chief Legal Officer for Kennecott, that is critical of the company’s handling of the potential tailings disaster: “Prior management’s decisions to disregard and conceal legal advice, forego public notice, attempt to establish a residential buffer surreptitiously, collude with the State Engineer to withhold the KL studies from the public, and restrict the distribution of the Reduction Study, collectively and individually, give the appearance of a conspiracy to cover-up a profound threat to public safety.” Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Health, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, water pollution, workers | Tagged: Kennecott, mine safety, public health, Rio Tinto, water pollution, workers | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
LSMN
teresabertossi
doncorvette
