St. Paul, Minn. (March 3, 2016) – The hardworking men and women who build and maintain our state and its industries, and the companies that are the backbone of our statewide economy are celebrating today. The state of Minnesota issued its Adequacy Decision for the PolyMet NorthMet Final Environmental Impact Statement. Deeming the review adequate, this decision is a landmark achievement for the project and a crucial step forward for copper-nickel mining in the state.
The decision confirms the PolyMet project can create hundreds of jobs and economic benefits for the state while protecting the environment. This milestone marks the end of more than 10 years of intensive independent review and analysis of the PolyMet project and paves the way for the state’s first copper-nickel mine.
“The state of Minnesota should be proud today to recognize the promise of economic opportunity this project brings to our communities,” said Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council. “I’m thrilled to celebrate this milestone. The PolyMet project will usher in a new era of mining that will create millions of construction work hours in a region of our state that is hurting and in need of good paying jobs.”
“The Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service put forth exceptional dedication and due diligence in analyzing the Final Environmental Impact Statement,” said Doug Loon, president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. “The review and analysis were accomplished in a thoughtful and deliberate process involving a wide range of stakeholders. This thorough process confirms that the project will create hundreds of jobs while protecting our critical natural resources.”
The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council and the Minnesota Chamber work in partnership to support economic progress from copper-nickel mining opportunities in Minnesota. The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council is 50,000 members strong and has represented unionized construction workers through leadership and advocacy for more than 60 years. The Minnesota Chamber is the state’s largest business advocacy organization representing 2,300 companies of all sizes and types across Minnesota and a half million employees.
The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council and the Minnesota Chamber jointly formed Jobs for Minnesotans, a coalition of business, labor and communities in 2012 to support statewide opportunities for job creation from proposed copper-nickel mining projects in Minnesota. For more information, visit jobsforminnesotans.org and follow @JobsforMN on Twitter and find us on Facebook.com/Jobs4MN.
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DNR: PolyMet EIS is adequate
Mesabi Daily News
Bill Hanna
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Thursday ruled that the Final Environmental Impact Statement for PolyMet’s NorthMet copper/nickel/precious metals mine project near Hoyt Lakes is adequate, which paves the way for permit application by the company.
The environmental review process is now complete for the first-ever nonferrous mine in Minnesota.
DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said the process leading to the completion of the state’s EIS has been deliberative and thorough.
MINE IX: “One Range – One Voice”
Mesabi Daily News
Opinion: Steve Giorgi
Our community leaders need to work together as a region as we will be challenged again to do more with less. We need to take pride in our communities and make them inviting and welcoming to newbies who come to town, who may have a different outlook on life than us but are what we need to survive.
We need new blood, fresh ideas, new challenges to help us accept that life as we have known it for the past 100 years is going to change. Let’s work together to make it a change for the better.
Read more: http://www.virginiamn.com/mine/one-range-one-voice/article_00f639da-daa1-11e5-84d5-fbe66199bef8.html
MINE IX: Mining is our Past, Present, Future
Mesabi Daily News
Opinion: Kurt Daudt
Minnesota has a long, rich history of mining.
Iron was discovered while miners were in pursuit of gold in the late 1860s. At the time, they did not know iron would become more valuable to northern Minnesota than gold or that our state would become the largest producer of iron ore and taconite in our nation.
Imagine if early Minnesotans ignored the discovery of iron ore on the Range. Mining is not just part of our past, but an important part of our present and future.
MINE IX: “One Range – One Voice”
Mesabi Daily News
Opinion: Steve Giorgi
Our community leaders need to work together as a region as we will be challenged again to do more with less. We need to take pride in our communities and make them inviting and welcoming to newbies who come to town, who may have a different outlook on life than us but are what we need to survive.
We need new blood, fresh ideas, new challenges to help us accept that life as we have known it for the past 100 years is going to change. Let’s work together to make it a change for the better.
Read more: http://www.virginiamn.com/mine/one-range-one-voice/article_00f639da-daa1-11e5-84d5-fbe66199bef8.html
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