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