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.
Michigan DEQ-Turned Rio Tinto Employee Talks About Clean Water
January 28, 2011
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Kennecott-Rio Tinto | Tagged: deq, dnr, dnre, Eagle Mine, hardrock mining, Kennecott, lake superior, Michigan, mining, Rio Tinto, river, sulfide mining, wastewater, water, yellow dog plains | 
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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 »
Leave a Comment » | Eagle Mine, economy, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, lake superior, Law, Michigan, uranium, water, water pollution, workers | Tagged: cameco, deq, Eagle Mine, economy, humboldt, Kennecott, politicians, pollution, Rio Tinto, uranium, water, water pollution, workers, yellow dog plains | Permalink
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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 »
5 Comments | Eagle Mine, economy, human rights, indigenous, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Law, Michigan, water, water pollution, workers | Tagged: Eagle Mine, economy, Kennecott, Law, Michigan, native american, Rio Tinto, water, water pollution, workers | Permalink
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Something to Hide? Minnesota Miner Opposes $500,000 Water Testing Investment
December 2, 2009At a recent meeting in Ely, Minnesota a mining company actively exploring the state for metallic sulfide ore bodies expressed opposition to a project that would allow residents to better understand water quality in the area. If the mining industry can’t stop it, the project would represent a significant investment for remote Lake County and could help ensure that the area’s lucrative tourism industry remains intact for years to come.
Bob and Pat Tammen Canoe on Birch Lake; Photo courtesy Lori Andresen
On November 19, the White Iron Chain of Lakes Association (WICOLA) outlined plans before the Lake County Board for an extensive water testing effort of the Kawishiwi River watershed in order to locate pollution sources and prevent future pollution. The project would be funded with $500,000 from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and could possibly attract matching funds. Read the rest of this entry »
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Colorado Towns Oppose Uranium Mine; State to Strengthen Mining Laws
October 19, 2009Mining 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
“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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Expose Shows Water Pollution On the Rise; Great Lakes Enforcement Remains Lax
September 14, 2009In an excellent introduction to the New York Times’ series, “Toxic Waters,” Charles Duhigg notes that federal Clean Water Act violations have increased dramatically in recent years, with more than 506,000 violations from 2004 to 2007 with the number increasing by 16% over that short three-year period. Shockingly, only 3% of violations have resulted in fines or “significant” punishment.
3 Comments | Cliffs Natural Resources, Michigan, water | Tagged: clean water act, cliffs, Kennecott, Michigan, pollution, Rio Tinto, water | Permalink
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New Bill to Push Water and Job Protection
September 4, 2009State 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
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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Cliffs Empire and Tilden Mines Likely Cause of Selenium Pollution
August 9, 2009Cliffs Natural Resources’ Empire and Tilden Mines are the likely cause of high levels of selenium pollution in Goose Lake, Goose Lake Inlet, Warner Creek, and other smaller streams surrounding tailings piles at the company’s iron ore mining complex, in Marquette County. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Cliffs Natural Resources, Michigan, water | Tagged: cliffs, Michigan, pollution, selenium, water | Permalink
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Medical Doctors, Physicians Address Public Health Threats in Upper Peninsula
March 20, 2009by Gabriel Caplett
Marquette, Michigan – Current pollution from past chemical, mining and military operations were addressed alongside the potential for continued public health threats posed by coal power generation and mining activities, Thursday, at the Women’s Federated Clubhouse, in Marquette. The event, organized by the Great Lakes Health and Environment Action League (HEAL), featured presentations by area health professionals, toxicologists and university professors.
Event moderator, Gene Champagne, said the event was significant for many because public health concerns are “universal.”
“No one wants to be ill,” said Champagne. “We’re talking about the health, our own health, our parents, our children. That matters to everyone.” Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Health, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, water | Tagged: Health, Kennecott, Michigan, pollution, Rio Tinto, water, water pollution | Permalink
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Notes on the Rio Tinto plc AGM, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, England
May 9, 2008by Richard Solly (London Mining Network organizer)
This report covers many but not all of the issues raised during questions on the company’s Annual Report and in some of the other items of business. Where several questions were asked about one area, they are reported together. The report was put together with the help of many of the people who attended the AGM.
For an hour before the AGM, there was an inspiring protest outside the Conference Centre, organised by Friends of the Earth, the Free West Papua Campaign and Partizans (People Against Rio Tinto and its Subsidiaries), with help from War on Want. West Papuan flags, illegal in Indonesia and its occupied territories, flapped in the strong wind, and West Papuan musicians sang and played music for the whole time as others handed out information leaflets from London Mining Network. Read the rest of this entry »
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