MINE IX: PolyMet Ready to Go – “Dig, Baby, Dig!”
Mesabi Daily News
Opinion: Michael Thompson
Once [PolyMet] is operational, 360 direct mining jobs will be created having a payroll spending impact of $330 million per year. Don’t forget about the indirect jobs that this will create. Contractors doing maintenance of facilities, vendors and small businesses expanding or opening would create an additional estimated 630 jobs. The Labovitz School of Business at the University of Minnesota-Duluth economic impact study estimates a total of $515 million per year being pumped into the local economy.
Views from the mining industry
Duluth News Tribune
Opinion: Frank Ongaro
Is PolyMet a big deal?
“Polymet will be creating the same economic impact as having the Super Bowl in Northeastern Minnesota every year for 24 years. They estimate when the Super Bowl comes to Minnesota (in two years), it’s going to be a half-a-billion-dollar, a 500-million-dollar, benefit to the state of Minnesota. That’s what PolyMet is going to do, plus (more), each and every year for 24 years. Let’s start there. Let’s look at the economic opportunity and then let’s go from there.”
Read more: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/local-view/3941902-views-mining-industry
Our view: We will survive this mining downturn, too
Duluth News Tribune
Editorial Board
“What a great opportunity for the entire state of Minnesota,” Frank Ongaro said of PolyMet. “You talk about this region, you talk about economic development, there’s no single better economic development opportunity for this region of the state than PolyMet Mining: 300-plus jobs for 20-plus years. That’s a generation. That’s not short-term. That’s not a small amount of jobs. Plus, (there’ll be) another 600-plus spin-off jobs, as determined by the University of Minnesota. We’re talking a thousand jobs for this region for a substantial number of decades, and we’re talking about great, great-paying jobs for this region. … It’s a tremendous opportunity for this region and for all the vendors and suppliers, and not just in Northeastern Minnesota and not just in Duluth but from all across the state.”
Here’s What We’d Like to See Happen in Ely in the Year 2016
Ely Echo
Editorial
We’re not into New Year’s resolutions. Instead we’ve come up with a wish list for 2016. Santa, if you’re reading, the Ely area and the whole Iron Range are in need of some gifts that last beyond Christmas.
Here’s a start for the new year:
- Permitting, construction at PolyMet
Want to give the East Range a real shot in the arm and prospects for better tomorrows? How about the issuance of permits and the start of construction at the region’s first copper-nickel mine.
After more than a decade of review, and some recent green lights in the environmental study process, it’s time for the state to stand strong and permit the PolyMet project.
The permanent jobs will bring more positions with good-size paychecks to the area, not to mention spin-off jobs and a construction period that’s sure to be an economic boon.
The lawsuits from environmental groups are inevitable, but here’s hoping that part of the reason PolyMet has taken so long to permit was that regulators have assembled a plan that’s bulletproof.
On the same topic, we’d like nothing better than to see Twin Metals Minnesota make progress on its plans to develop a mine that just might be the biggest piece of economic development in Ely’s history.
Read more: http://elyecho.com/articles/2016/01/03/here%E2%80%99s-what-we%E2%80%99d-see-happen-ely-year-2016
DNR Extends Comment Period on PolyMet Environmental Review
Minnesota Public Radio
Dan Kraker
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has extended the public comment period on the final environmental review of the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine.
The DNR says it will not accept comments through Dec. 21, a week later than the original deadline.
Read more: http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/12/11/dnr-extends-polymet-environmental-review-comment-period
Dayton administration: No need for PolyMet health study
Pioneer Press
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger
Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration concluded the state does not need an extra health impact assessment of the PolyMet mining project.
In a joint memo released Monday, Dayton’s health, pollution control and natural resources commissioners told the governor that a health study would be duplicative, confusing and could delay decision making.
A statement from the governor’s office said: “Gov. Dayton agrees with their assessment.”
Read more: http://blogs.twincities.com/politics/2015/12/07/dayton-administration-no-need-polymet-health-study/
County board backs PolyMet
Mesabi Daily News
Jerry Burnes
With county officials meeting on the struggling East Range, the mining project that holds hope for new jobs in the area gained another endorsement Tuesday.
St. Louis County commissioners passed a resolution without objection to submit comment to the state Department of Natural Resources supporting the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the PolyMet mine near Hoyt Lakes, marking the board’s first on-the-record support of the project.
Guest Column: Let’s Wrap Up PolyMet
Mesabi Daily News
Opinion: U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan
After 10 long years, the rigorous approval process for PolyMet’s NorthMet copper, nickel and other precious metals mining project has reached a major milestone: The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was published this month in the Federal Register.
Having studied the details closely, and after numerous meetings with all the parties involved, I’m urging the co-lead agencies — the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service — to wrap things up so the project can be permitted and operational at the earliest possible date.
Views on PolyMet Final Environmental Impact Statement
Duluth News Tribune
Editorial Board
On Friday, the long-anticipated final environmental review of PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mine was released, detailing how the project can be accomplished while also protecting air quality, water purity and the environment.
The News Tribune already had opined that the release of the 3,000-page Final Environmental Impact Statement, a document that took more than 10 years to get right, marked a moment that could be “welcomed and embraced.”
Pioneer Press
Editorial Board
Minnesotans should appreciate the process that is purposefully working its way to a conclusion as the state decides whether to allow copper and nickel mining on the Iron Range.
After 10 years, it reached a landmark Friday when the state’s Department of Natural Resources issued the final environmental impact statement on the proposed PolyMet mine near Hoyt Lakes in northeastern Minnesota. If other steps proceed and the department approves of the 3,000-page document early next year, the company then could begin applying for the nearly two dozen permits it will need.