Not many are getting the message.  A recent editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune supporting PolyMet’s controversial NorthMet project claims that environmental laws are strong and are vigorously enforced.  Only four days after the Tribune’s confident editorial, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a strong critique of the environmental review of PolyMet’s project, giving it the lowest possible rating, “environmentally unsatisfactory-inadequate,” and recommending the mine “must not proceed as proposed.” According to the EPA, PolyMet would destroy hundreds of acres of “high quality” wetlands, pollute ground and surface water of “national importance” with acidic mine drainage and dump mercury into Lake Superior.

From Duhigg’s, “Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling E.P.A.”:

Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators.

As a result, some businesses are declaring that the law no longer applies to them. And pollution rates are rising.

Companies that have spilled oil, carcinogens and dangerous bacteria into lakes, rivers and other waters are not being prosecuted, according to regulators working on those cases, who estimate that more than 1,500 major pollution investigations have been discontinued or shelved in the last four years.

The Clean Water Act was intended to end dangerous water pollution by regulating every major polluter. But today, regulators may be unable to prosecute as many as half of the nation’s largest known polluters because officials lack jurisdiction or because proving jurisdiction would be overwhelmingly difficult or time consuming, according to midlevel officials.

“We are, in essence, shutting down our Clean Water programs in some states,” said Douglas F. Mundrick, an E.P.A. lawyer in Atlanta. “This is a huge step backward. When companies figure out the cops can’t operate, they start remembering how much cheaper it is to just dump stuff in a nearby creek.”

To read more, please visit the New York Times.  Read the rest of Duhigg’s articles on this subject by clicking HERE.

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.

LaFernier stated, “I think these questions are very pertinent for you to hear and to answer.  How will you protect and guarantee our treaty rights with the United States to hunt, fish, and gather on this land.  How will you protect our great Lake Superior, where the rivers flow, and how will you protect….Eagle Rock, which is a place where traditional ceremonies take place?  And which will be blasted through ….we will be denied access for 34 years.”

LaFernier requested that Rio Tinto “consider that Kennecott withdraw any plans to mine in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan because of the many reasons that could be stated here today,” asking “will our rights be violated, our territorial sovereignty be jeopardized, but also, our survival as a people.”

LaFernier maintained, “It is our ancestor’s vision that our determination will continue to be honoured and I pray that you, too, will protect our Great Lakes and our Mother Earth.”

Gabriel Caplett addressed inaccuracies in Rio Tinto’s March, 2008, “Review,” in which Kennecott Eagle project manager, Jon Cherry, claimed that, in Wisconsin, the company “received a Certificate of Completion [COC], which means that we’ve fulfilled all our obligations” at the Flambeau Mine.

Caplett corrected the “Review”, maintaining “the company has not received a Certificate of Completion for the actual mine site, which is 32 acres” and questioned “why the project manager continues lying to our community and why the project manager, in this “Review”, has lied to the company’s own shareholders.”

Caplett also disagreed with Rio Tinto CEO, Tom Albanese’s assertion that Michigan has the “strongest nonferrous mining laws in the world”:  “I would counter your statement that we have the most stringent laws in the world.  Our neighbour, Wisconsin, has laws that are much more stringent; that have, up to now, kept your company out of operation, in that state, for a decade.”

Caplett also addressed Kennecott and Rio Tinto’s 20-year cover-up of the potential for a major tailings disaster, outside of Magna, Utah:  “In 1992, Rio Tinto conducted an assessment….tallying the legal value of people’s lives that would be affected by the potential spill and Rio Tinto decided against fully containing this impoundment and, rather, to proceed with business as usual.”  Caplett opposed Albanese’s re-election, as CEO, based upon his association with the tailings cover-up.

Cynthia Pryor addressed Kennecott’s actions that led to a damaged road crossing releasing 98 tons of sediment into the Salmon Trout River.  Pryor also expressed dissatisfaction over “private” Kennecott meetings and a lack of landowner representation at community meetings.

Pryor suggested that “our State is being held hostage by Kennecott lawyers,” referring to Kennecott threats to sue the State for a “takings” if its project were not approved.

Based upon the incompetence and secretiveness of Eagle Project manager, Jon Cherry, Pryor recommended that CEO Albanese hold a public meeting, in the Upper Peninsula, to “clear issues.”

Shareholder Fran Whitman was unable to access an official card enabling her to speak at the AGM.

Benny Wenda, independence leader from West Papua, and founder of the Free West Papua Campaign, also spoke, raising concerns over the continued Indonesia occupation of West Papua and military control over freedom of speech.  Wenda was “arrested, tortured and threatened with death” for peacefully protesting the Rio Tinto/Freeport McMoRan Grasberg gold and copper mine.

Wenda escaped from prison and resides, as an exile, in the UK.  Wenda played West Papuan music, prior to the AGM, at a London Mining Network-sponsored picket, outside of the QEII.  Others displayed a banner saying “Rio Tinto:  Stop Breaking Promises to Communities” and distributed flyers outlining six projects where the company is currently breaking stated and published promises.

The majority of comments regarded opposition to various projects where Rio Tinto has disregarded public and indigenous land and committed human rights violations.  In addition to Wenda, three shareholders raised questions regarding Rio Tinto’s actions in West Papua.  Shareholders also expressed opposition to Rio Tinto projects in Mendoza Province, Argentina, Alaska, and Madagascar.

Following the AGM, Caplett presented CEO Albanese a book on the Flambeau Mine, “The Buzzards Have Landed,” and recommended the CEO question project manager Cherry on his false assertions in the company’s March “Review.”  Caplett also discussed Kennecott Copper’s tailings impoundment with the CEO.

LaFernier, Whitman, and Pryor met with Bret Clayton, Rio Tinto Copper CEO, who agreed to hold a public meeting with the mine opposition.  Pryor maintained that there was not an “opposition,” rather local citizens.

A meeting was held, the same evening, at Amnesty International headquarters, featuring presentations on Rio Tinto and Anglo-American projects in the US, South Africa, West Papua and Argentina.  Anglo-American held its AGM April 15, also in London.  Company representative, Edward Bickham, was present and spoke at the meeting.

The morning of April 17, South African police, at Anglo-American’s behest, attacked and tear-gassed citizens peacefully protesting the company’s platinum operation in Limpopo Province.  In 2006, a police and Anglo-American attack resulted in one woman being shot in the face.  After several months, medical surgery was paid for by the company.

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.

For more information read NWR’s original article on the cover-up:  http://www.northwoodswild.org/component/content/article/57-sulfide-and-uranium-mining-news/119-kennecott-hides-potential-for-deadly-tailings-disaster

Or visit the Salt Lake Tribune:  http://www.sltrib.com/

Cameco criticized, in Wyoming, for “routine” uranium spills

Cameco Corporation has recently been criticized by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) for its Smith-Highland Ranch uranium operations, north of Douglas.  The in-situ mine is operated by Power Resources Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cameco.

The six-page investigation details several “long-standing” environmental violations, such as delays in restoring contaminated groundwater, “routine” spills and the existence of a bond grossly inadequate to cover full site restoration.

Company spokesperson, Gord Struthers claims the issues are related to poor company documentation and insists that Cameco is committed to the environment.  According to Struthers, “It’s real hard to trumpet our values in this situation, but I think that over the years it’s pretty clear the company has been a solid performer. The environment is one of our top priorities.”

Kennecott attempting to explore for metals in newly-created public open-space

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that Kennecott Minerals is attempting to explore for minerals within a newly-created public open space, in Salt Lake County, Utah.

Salt Lake County officials spent $8.7 million for the 1,700 acre Rose Canyon Ranch, in the Oquirrh Mountains, in November, 2007.  The purchase was made as part of a $48 million bond approved by voters for park and open-space development.  The parcel, combined with the adjacent Yellow Fork Park, also owned by the County, and a BLM parcel creates a 4,000 acre preserved public open space.

Within one week of the purchase, Kennecott filed 70 mining claims with the BLM.

Although Salt Lake County now owns Rose Canyon Ranch, the BLM can grant Kennecott exploration access without the County’s consent.

Although Kennecott is currently being investigated for a 20-year cover-up of its Magna tailings facility, company representative, Erik Best, assured the Salt Lake County Council that “Kennecott has high environmental standards.”

Kennecott activities continue to cause sediment erosion into trout spawning habitat

A Sunday, April 6, trip to the Yellow Dog Plains ended shortly after the junction with the Triple A and Northwestern Road.  The Spring melt, combined with Kennecott’s heavy truck traffic, has caused major road ruts and runoff, particularly at stream crossings.

One local camp owner recently contacted the DEQ about erosion occurring at the Northwestern crossing of a Salmon Trout River tributary, citing disruptions to trout spawning habitat.

Following the complaint, DEQ staff placed straw bales at the crossing and sent Kennecott a letter.

In Spring, 2005, a Salmon Trout River crossing washed out due to Kennecott’s activities, releasing 90 tons of sediment into the small river.

35,000 year-old Aboriginal artifacts located at Rio Tinto iron mine

Archaeologists in Australia have discovered ancient Aboriginal tools in the Pilbara region, in Western Australia.  The artifacts, radiocarbon-dated to be at least 35,000 years old were found on the Hope Downs iron mine site, which is jointly-owned and operated by Rio Tinto and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.

The find represents one of the oldest prehistoric sites in Australia and will likely be considered an internationally-significant “prehistoric record of humanity.”

The local Martidja Banyjima people hired archeaologist Dr. Neale Draper, managing director of Australian Cultural Heritage Management Ltd., to investigate the site.

According to Draper, “We are thrilled at the test results. This is a major scientific discovery. It contains a large number of stone tools and it is one of the most data-rich ancient sites in Australia, with an exceptional amount of information about climate change through the last ice age, the earliest occupation of the Pilbara and North-West Australia.”

Archaeologists hired by the Aboriginal traditional owners have released the results of radiocarbon tests indicating that it is one of the oldest-dated sites in Australia and internationally significant as a prehistoric record of humanity.

Most of the tools, which appear to have been used for cutting, contain traces of organic matter that archaeologists believe will provide evidence of prehistoric food supplies and climate change.

Rio Tinto committed to China despite egregious environmental and human rights record

Rio Tinto is expressing an increased interest in working with Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in order to have great access to capital, engineering and technology for mine projects in Asia, Africa and South America.  SOEs would include Chinese government-owned steel companies and investment institutions.

According to CEO, Tom Albanese, Rio Tinto wants to become the “partner of choice” for Chinese companies by forming “opportunities for cooperative relationships with senior Chinese SOEs on large-scale development” in “very remote locations that require a lot of infrastructure.”

Rio Tinto chairman, Paul Skinner, predicts that a US recession will not impact Rio Tinto’s output, due to strong economic growth in China and India:  “The U.S. is now somewhat less important in world commodity demand than it was five years ago.”  According to Skinner, “Projections for Rio Tinto’s main product groups, iron ore, aluminum and copper, suggest that demand could potentially triple over the next 25 years.”

Albanese asserted that, despite China’s egregious record on human rights and environmental degradation, Rio Tinto remains committed to working with the communist nation as a mineral supplier and joint-venture partner.  Citing recent government crackdowns on protests in Tibet, Albanese stated, “I think it’s fair to say that every country has legacies that have to be confronted….It’s important not to isolate a country because it still has those legacies to resolve.”

Rio Tinto, itself, has been accused of human rights violations in Namibia, Chile, West Papua New Guinea, among other places.  It is currently involved in a US District Court lawsuit concerning its role assisting the Indonesian military in killing and torturing citizens near is Grasberg Mine.

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.”

G. Frank Joklik was Kennecott’s president and CEO from 1980 to 1993.  Joklik, now a mining consultant, is currently on the board of directors for Prime Meridian Resources (PMR), a mining firm seeking to develop several metallic mineral deposits in the Upper Peninsula. Prior to the 2002 Olympic Games, a bribery scandal forced Joklik to resign from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, which was responsible for attempting to secure the games for the city of Salt Lake.  PMR has another Kennecott connection – the company’s president Michael Senn, was a Kennecott geologist from 1980 to 1996 and was Regional Manager/Chief Geologist when Kennecott discovered the Eagle deposit, in 1995.

The tailings pond, which opened in 1906, has had two previous failures (1941 and 1964) that reportedly did not result in loss of life or significant property damage and was not caused by seismic activity.  The 1997 memo notes that scientific reports were commissioned on the tailings impoundment in 1957, 1966, 1974 and 1983.  The reports noted the ability of the tailings impoundment to fail due to seismic activity.  The area lies within the Intermountain Seismic Belt and an earthquake in the vicinity, in 1962, measured M 5.2 on the Richter Scale.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2006, Kennecott’s Utah Copper Mine and Power Plant was the second highest polluting facility in the nation with 102.5 million pounds of pollutants.  The company’s Green’s Creek Mine, in Alaska (recently sold to Hecla Mining Corp.), ranked 7th, with 44.5 million pounds of pollutants.

In 1988, Joklik commissioned an additional geotechnical evaluation of the tailings dam from a Canadian engineering firm, Klohn-Leonoff Consultants Ltd. (KL), from British Columbia, Canada.  KL’s report showed that an earthquake could cause the dam to burst, flooding part of the town of Magna, resulting in a loss of life and property damage.  According to Gardner’s 1997 memo, the report noted the potential danger to “inhabited areas, industrial sites, a major railroad line, and public highways.”  An industry expert, H. Bolton Seed, assessed and validated the findings, saying that “the annual risk of failure for the tailings deposit is [100 times greater] than for conventional dams.”

Joklik responded to the report by unsuccessfully attempting to hide the results using the protection of attorney work product privilege and formed a task force to assess methods to stabilize the Magna Corner and other portions of the tailings impoundment.  A “Reduction Study,” commissioned from KL, in 1989, recommended the only solution was to construct an external berm around the entire tailings impoundment.  In response, Kennecott began dewatering the Magna Corner but abandoned “key elements of the seismic upgrade program” in 1993 due to economic costs associated with relocating 2.75 miles of State Route 201, the Magna Copper Golf Course, and all Kennecott and third party utilities in the area, and realigning and modifying the company’s process water facilities.

Gardner’s 1997 memo suggests that the “decision to abandon the berm, buffer and dike components of the seismic upgrade is not well documented and seems to have been motivated by economics, with no genuine concern for public safety.”

Joklik and Philip J. Bernhisel (Kennecott’s Senior Vice President of Finance and Law) also requested a legal review from the former General Counsel, Earl Tingey, who commissioned an investigation from Bob Connery, of Holland and Hart LLP, Denver.  However, according to the Gardner memo, Joklik controlled Connery’s review and limited Tingey’s role to one of simply conveying information from Connery to Joklik.  Connery recommended that Kennecott disclose the threat to residents.  Connery was fired and informed that Joklik did not “like” his advice and to forward any relevant documents to Kennecott and destroy all copies.  Connery disregarded the advice.

Joklik secured a second legal opinion, from Parsons, Behle and Latimer (PB&L), from Salt Lake City, which recommended that Kennecott disclose the threat to the public and make the tailings impoundment safe by relocating State Route 201 and creating a buffer zone around the impoundment.  The consultant advised Kennecott that the impoundment was “unreasonably dangerous” and that the company faced the potential for punitive and criminal charges if the company did not warn the public.  Kennecott’s General Counsel instructed PB&L that Joklik would “terminate PB&L’s representation if their opinion was rendered to him, and he instructed PB&L to destroy the opinion.”

Following its dewatering activities, Kennecott commissioned another “seismic hazard evaluation” study from Woodward and Clyde, in 1993, to reassess the potential for a tailings breach in the Magna Corner of the impoundment.  Woodward and Clyde’s assessment showed an even higher risk potential than KL’s study.

Gardner’s 1997 memo notes that “the possibility of stabilizing the Magna Corner exclusively through the dewatering effort appears to be a post-decision attempt to provide a supporting rationale, by identifying a viable method of protecting against the potentially devastating effects of a seismic failure.  Unfortunately, the dewatering option continues to be unproven.”

Kennecott officials met with the Utah State Engineer to discuss the original KL assessment.  According to minutes prepared by the company, the State Engineer approved of Kennecott’s full seismic upgrades and agreed with KL’s findings.  However, according to Gardner’s 1997 memo, “The minutes further indicate that the KL studies were shared with the State Engineer, but were not retained by the agency records because of concerns “that they would fall into the public domain.”  The State Engineer provided informal assurances that he had “no intention…of going public with the information.”  The project manager advises that the State Engineer has not retained copies of any of the geotechnical reports operated on behalf of Kennecott.”

Instead of pursuing a full seismic upgrade of the tailings impoundment, Joklik authorized Kennecott’s Land Department to secretly purchase 200 homes in Green Meadow Estates.  Officials in the department were not briefed on exact reasons for the purchasing.  From 1991 to 1992, the department purchased 39 homes, through a still-unidentified agent, which were subsequently leased.  The new tenants were never informed of the risks associated with a break in the tailings impoundment.  In 1995, Kennecott began pursuing options to sell the properties, without providing disclosure to buyers regarding tailings hazards.

Shockingly, in 1992, Kennecott’s parent company, Rio Tinto, conducted a “risk assessment” to determine the company’s potential liability in the event of a catastrophic dam break.  The company requested the Land Department to total the “approximate number of people involved…approximate spread of the population age (normal, young, aged) [sic]…approximate number of children and adults present at each school…approximate value placed on loss of life by Utah courts, with variation by age.”

Gardner’s 1997 memo concludes that “The lack of public notice is particularly puzzling.  Contrary to the unequivocal advice of two highly regarded law firms, Kennecott’s management did not provide the requisite warning because Mr. Joklik believed it would cause “panic and suits”…Kennecott has a legal and moral duty to disclose the risk and advise potentially affected persons of the company’s mitigation effort….The company decided human life was not worth the cost of completing the seismic upgrade in the manner most likely to yield an acceptable margin of safety.”

Despite Kennecott’s modification’s, over the past 20 years, the impoundment’s Magna Corner still fails to meet Utah’s minimum safety standard for a worst-case earthquake of M 7.2 on the Richter Scale.  Kennecott claims that final improvements will be finished in ten years.

The Marquette County Resource Management/Development Department completed a “Hazard Mitigation Plan” for the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department, Emergency Management Division.  The plan, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), outlines areas of concern to local and regional law enforcement.

The comprehensiveness of the plan is debatable as it lacks any published citations to support its numerous claims.  Perhaps one of the more misplaced and wild claims is that “Terrorism and Sabotage…” represent a significant risk to the County.  The plan also lacks consideration of metallic sulfide and uranium mining as potential risks to groundwater supplies and public health in the area.

The plan ignores, in its sections on “Public Health Emergencies” and “Hazardous Materials,” the possibility for public exposure to uranium contamination.  With multiple mining companies, including Bitterroot Resources and Cameco Corporation, exploring for uranium in the region, consideration of the potential for this highly hazardous substance to impact public health should have been included in the plan.

The potential for uranium contamination is actually very real.  On November 24, 2005, an RSB Logistics semi-truck wrecked on M-117, in Mackinaw County, Michigan. The truck was transporting low-level radioactive calcined mining materials for Cameco from Blind River, Ontario to Blanding, Utah.  The driver drove into the ditch while choking on a piece of beef jerky.  M-117 was closed to traffic between US-2 and M-28. A Cameco hazardous materials team unloaded the cargo.

As with uranium, the potential for impacts to public health with the rail transport of sulfide materials from Kennecott’s Eagle Project and other proposed sites is also very real, and ignored, in the plan.  The plan notes that “over the years, the County has experienced a number of rail incidents, several of which were serious or had the potential to be serious.”  Because Kennecott plans to transport its ore by rail, the Eagle Project should be outlined as a potential risk to public health.

The risks of Kennecott’s projects should have also been considered in the section, “Unstable Ground.”  The plan notes the proven risk for ground subsidence to occur on the Yellow Dog Plains:

“In 1996, significant landslide occurred during a major spring snowmelt along the Yellow Dog River. At least one research paper has been written which identifies that area as geologically unstable. That paper predicts that as the Yellow Dog River and Salmon Trout River systems mature through the natural erosion process, the Salmon Trout River will steal the headwaters of the Yellow Dog River. In this incident, a steep sand slope encompassing approximately 40 acres failed and slid into the channel of the river. Past logging activity, poor road construction, and ditch maintenance may have contributed to this event. Occurring in a remote forested region, the event did not endanger human life or cause significant property damage. It did affect the trout habitat. This event is a good example of what could happen because of building on unstable slopes and improper construction of roads, ditches, and culverts.”

The plan also outlines the potential for water contamination in areas with sandy/porous soils, such as those found on the Yellow Dog Plains:  “Porous soil has rapid permeability…the underlying aquifer is vulnerable to contamination. In addition, the loose soil makes excavation projects in this area difficult. The soils are vulnerable to wind and water erosion.”

In the introduction, the plan notes that, in northwestern Marquette County, “Due to narrow channels and bedrock close to the surface, flash flooding can occur during periods of excessive rain, rapid snowmelt, or blockage by ice or debris.”  This observation is especially relevant as problems associated with heavy rainfall in Rusk County, Wisconsin, in September 1994, caused a tailings pond at Kennecott’s Flambeau Mine to nearly overflow into the Flambeau River, a common occurrence at metallic sulfide mines.  In that instance, the company used sulfide waste rock to give the protective berm an additional four feet and the river came within 3 ½ feet of flooding the mine site.

The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) ranked the listed risks based upon five measures:  1) history of occurrence, 2) probability of occurrence, 3) potential affected area, 4) impact on county population and, 5) significance of impact.  The LEPC ranked “Terrorism and Sabotage…” higher than industrial building fires, urban flooding,drought, residential structural fires and shoreline flooding/erosion.

The plan lists the “Kennecott Project Eagle Sites” as one of the sites with “terrorist potential.”  The Plan includes a subsection on “Eco-Terrorism”:

“Since 1996, there have been over 600 eco-terrorist events in the United States, including the placement of a bomb at a forestry building at Michigan Technological University in the Upper Peninsula. Several area loggers have reported vandalism to their equipment. The assumption is that they were based upon differing viewpoints on use of the environment. Damage in the U. S. caused by a single eco-terrorist group has exceeded $10 million over a ten-year period. Larger organizations are believed to engage in intelligence gathering against potential targets. However, one of the major problems with eco-terrorism is the number of small cells without organizational structure.”

The eco-terrorist claims likely stem from FBI testimony at a February 12, 2002 House Ecoterror Hearing.  The FBI alleged that the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) had “committed more than 600 criminal acts in the United States since 1996.”  The FBI, which submitted information for use in the County’s Plan, has never substantiated that the Michigan Tech. incident or vandalism to logging equipment was linked to ELF or ALF.  In recent years, the FBI, at Kennecott’s behest, has questioned three prominent citizens around the Big Bay area regarding their involvement in fighting Kennecott’s Eagle Project.  While “eco-terrorism” activities have not caused a loss of life, the FBI continues to list “eco-terrorists” as the nation’s number one domestic terrorist threat, beating out violent extremist militia groups that adopt a Timothy McVeigh-style ethic.

Rather than highlighting assumed risks stemming from local citizen activity and tacitly branding opponents of mining projects as potential “eco-terrorists,” the County could have considered the high potential for groundwater contamination and rail disasters relating to uranium and metallic sulfide mining activity.  These activities have a proven record of risk to public health and local economic systems, whereas allegations of terrorist threats

In November, 2007, Dow Chemical reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a dioxin concentration of 1.6 million parts per trillion (ppt) in river-bottom sediment adjacent Wickes Park, in Saginaw, MI.  This represents the most concentrated amount of dioxins in the Saginaw River since testing began in 1978 and is the single highest level of dioxin ever reported to the EPA.  The highest level previously found in the Saginaw River measured much less, at 32,000ppt.

Dioxin is a dangerous toxin affecting the nervous and reproductive systems, causes numerous cancers and also affects childhood and fetal development.  Dioxin, found commonly in contaminated soils, river-bottom sediments and fish, is so dangerous that it is recorded in parts per trillion, as opposed to parts per million or billion.  The State of Michigan formerly required cleanup at 90 ppt and the EPA at 1,000ppt.

Dioxin contaminates soil sediment during annual flooding of the Tittabawassee River.  In recent years, the EPA has bought-out homeowners in heavily contaminated areas.  Now, more residents are requesting the agency to relocate them.

The EPA ordered Dow to clean-up 3 separate “hot spots” in the Tittabawassee this past June.  The recent discovery comes at a time when the DEQ, Dow and the EPA are meeting privately to discuss extending control over clean-up management to the EPA.

Dow began dumping dioxins from its Midland plant into the Tittabawassee before World War I and continued dumping until around 1970.  Discussion regarding remediating 50 miles of contaminated riverways that feed into Saginaw Bay has dragged on for almost 30 years.  According to a recently-released EPA memo, these delays and public misunderstandings regarding the dangers of dioxins have occurred with State complicity.

An August, 2007, confidential memo that the Lone Tree Council recently obtained from the EPA, apparently by accident, using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), contains a scathing criticism regarding the improper handling of the remediation process by both the Governor’s office and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).  The memo noted that Dow Chemical has gained unprecedented access to the Governor and DEQ Director, Steven Chester:

“Dow has often elevated regulatory matters (normally resolved at a staff level) to upper level management at MDEQ…Dow used this approach in negotiating the 1/20/05 Framework Agreement (FA) between Dow and the State of Michigan which contains conditions that have limited the ability of MDEQ to require timely and comprehensive corrective action in the Saginaw Bay watershed. The FA was negotiated between the Governor’s office, senior management at MDEQ, and Dow…Dow has used the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process, initiated in this matter in 2005, to keep non-confidential information from the public.”

The EPA memo criticizes the DEQ and various Michigan legislators for helping Dow to soften environmental standards and delay major clean-up activities, thus reducing potential liability damages for the company:

“Dow’s hazardous waste operating license (RCRA License) was re-issued to Dow by MDEQ on June 12, 2003. Prior to the re-issuance, Dow spent approximately a decade negotiating the terms and conditions of its expired RCRA License (expired 1993) with MDEQ, including off-site corrective action requirements. Off site corrective action issues came to a head in approximately 2002 when it was proposed that the corrective action requirements of Dow’s RCRA License be removed from the license and placed in a separate consent order with terms and conditions more favorable to Dow. EPA vigorously objected to this proposal via public comments on the draft consent order. The proposal was determined by Michigan’s Attorney General to be illegal. Dow, nevertheless, continued its efforts to prevent any specific off-site corrective action requirements from being included in Dow’s RCRA License. EPA finally had to require MDEQ, pursuant to 40 CFR 271.19, to include these off-site corrective action provisions in Dow’s permit.”

The memo also criticizes Dow for supplying the DEQ with false laboratory results.  In November, 2006, Priscilla Denney, an environmental engineer with Dow notified her superiors that Dow’s contracted sediment sampling work was found by a laboratory conducting validation tests to be so compromised that the lab rejected the results, on December 5, and ended its contract with the company several days later.  In response, Denney was demoted.  Despite the lab’s rejection, Dow submitted the DEQ its results in February.  Astoundingly, as of December 5, 2007, DEQ director Chester insists that, “Right now, we have no reason to believe the data is wrong…We want to double check and to see [sic] that the data we’ve based decisions on was right.”

The DEQ has a history of covering-up the full extent of Dow’s dioxin contamination and assisting the company in lessening the extent of potential liabilities by requiring less comprehensive remedial operations.

In 2001, tipped off by a DEQ insider, the Lone Tree Council and Michigan Environmental Council filed a FOIA regarding DEQ testing of dioxin levels south of Saginaw.

In April, 2000, while conducting a wetland mitigation project, General Motors Corporation (GM) found elevated levels of dioxin (as well as dibenszofuran compounds) in a farm field near the confluence of the Tittawbawassee and Saginaw Rivers. The samples contained concentrations of dioxin as high as 2,199 ppt. From December 2000 to June, 2001, in the interest of public safety, the DEQ collected soil samples from five locations in the Tittawbawassee River flood plain, south of Saginaw. The thirty-four samples collected showed dioxin concentrations ranging from 39 to 7,261 ppt with only five samples containing TEF concentrations less than the NREPA (Part 201) recommended residential criteria of 90 ppt or less.

The FOIA request revealed that agency director Russ Harding, who now works for the Dow-funded Mackinaw Center for Public Policy, had suppressed information regarding the soil tests and refused to give approval for any further soil testing of the Tittawbawassee floodplain. Harding also suppressed an internal state health assessment that recommended immediate government action. Harding went so far as to blacken out sections and redact certain public documents that referred to Dow Chemical’s involvement in the dioxin contamination.

The director attempted to alter Part 201 of NREPA to increase the amount of allowable dioxin in residential and industrial areas, in order to better accommodate Dow Chemical’s operations, creating a “dioxin zone” in the Midland and the Tittawbawassee floodplain that would allow permissible levels of dioxins more than ten times above the state’s health standards.  A State law, signed in December, 2006, allows the DEQ to recalculate dioxin cleanup criteria based upon the EPA standards of 1,000ppt, as opposed to State requirements of 90ppt.  This has the effect of eliminating Dow’s culpability in contaminating thousands of homes that were otherwise covered under State law.

Also included in DEQ-Dow discussions was a relaxation over Dow’s accountability in possible future litigation regarding the dioxin’s effect on public health as well as the DEQ allowing DOW to review the agency.  Michigan Attorney General, Jennifer Granholm, informed the DEQ that, because the deal did not follow proper administrative procedure and was performed without public knowledge the action would be considered illegal.  The EPA memo notes that the former Attorney General, as Governor, continues to allow Dow control over certain DEQ decision-making processes:

“Dow frequently…requests that issues be resolved using day-long working sessions. The working session approach has had the effect of limiting the administrative record, and places significant resource requirements on the MDEQ. EPA knows of no other facility in the State of Michigan where this type of approach to corrective action has been allowed by MDEQ… Dow often requests MDEQ to make decisions on the spot at meetings.”

In softening remediation requirements and delaying clean-up, Governor Granholm and current DEQ director, Steven Chester continue Harding’s tradition of lifting responsibility from major polluters over extensive water pollution and impacts to public health.