Nolan Responds to Administration’s Anti-Mining, Anti-Jobs Decision
Hometown Focus
Staff
U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan on Thursday released the following statement on the Administration’s anti-mining, anti-jobs announcement:
“Minnesota’s Iron Range got a real slap in the face and a punch in the gut by Washington bureaucrats this morning. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced their joint decision to withhold and deny consent on two of Twin Metals’ leases, which were previously renewed twice without controversy.
St. Paul, Minnesota (Dec. 15, 2016) – Jobs for Minnesotans today released the following statement in response to the decisions by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to deny Twin Metals Minnesota’s lease renewals and to withdraw federal lands from future development:
“Jobs for Minnesotans is outraged by the Obama Administration’s arbitrary and unprecedented actions to bar new mineral permits and leases on federally owned lands in northeastern Minnesota and to deny the renewal of Twin Metals Minnesota’s federal mineral leases. These acts are attacks on the future accessibility of critical minerals and on the people of northeastern Minnesota who have proudly and responsibly developed natural resources for generations. They send a chilling message to the communities that have held out hope that a new era of mining would ensure their long-term prosperity.
These actions ignore the clear consensus in northeastern Minnesota communities backing the long-established process for regulating the mining industry. Over the past several months, strong statements supporting access to minerals and a transparent regulatory process have been repeatedly delivered to the federal agencies by our Board and local elected officials representing thousands of citizens across the Iron Range. Many leading Minnesota lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, have also expressed support for the existing regulatory process.
In preempting the established and lawful process, federal agencies are taking an extreme step of denying the public the opportunity to evaluate mining projects on their merits. Not only does this action prevent due process on the Twin Metals mining plans, it threatens to halt for years – or even forever – other mineral development, including iron ore mining, in a vast 234,000-acre region outside of the federally protected Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Support for mining activities in the region remains strong. Twin Metals Minnesota and the MiningMinnesota trade association recently released results of a November 2016 regional survey that found more than 80 percent of residents support the existing process of allowing copper-nickel mining projects to go through rigorous state and federal environmental review. This action by the Obama Administration withdrawing access to federally owned minerals scraps the review process and ignores public sentiment favoring a tough but balanced, science-based review by appropriate agencies. The November survey also found that 66 percent of respondents opposed federal agency actions to prohibit mining in the Superior National Forest.
Federal agencies and the Obama administration have chosen to ignore the voices of those who have the most at stake, who live and work within and surrounding the Superior National Forest. Rural America made it abundantly clear in the November elections that jobs matter. The skilled Minnesota workforce that believes in mining with the highest safety and environmental standards has just been told their jobs don’t matter.”
About Jobs for Minnesotans
Jobs for Minnesotans, a coalition representing business, labor and communities, supports statewide opportunities for prosperity and middle-class jobs from sustainable natural resource development in Minnesota. The organization is committed to the principle that our state can preserve both job opportunities and the environment for future generations. Jobs for Minnesotans was co-founded in 2012 by the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council representing 55,000 workers and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce representing 2,300 companies and 500,000 employees. For more information, visit jobsforminnesotans.org, follow @JobsforMN on Twitter and find the coalition on Facebook.com/Jobs4MN.
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Media Contact: Nancy Norr, Board Chair
nnorr@mnpower.com
Office: 218.723.3905
Cell: 218.590.6978
Mining Group Honors Eagle Mine, PolyMet Mining
Upper Michigan’s Source
Staff
The American Exploration & Mining Association (AEMA) honored two Midwestern mining companies at its 122nd Annual Meeting last week in Reno, Nevada.
Minnesota based PolyMet Mining Inc. received AEMA’s Environmental Excellence Award for its responsible development of the NorthMet Project, located near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota.
Poll Finds Northeastern Minnesota Support for Copper Mining
Duluth News Tribune
John Myers
A new public opinion poll appears to show strong support among Northeastern Minnesota residents for proposed copper mining in the region.
The poll, conducted Nov. 12-14 and paid for by Twin Metals Minnesota, found that nearly two-thirds of the 400 people surveyed support copper mining.
PolyMet Submits Application for Permit to Mine
Duluth News Tribune
John Myers
PolyMet Mining Co. on Thursday submitted its massive application for a state permit to mine, the first ever for a copper mine in Minnesota.
The more-than-15,000-page document, years in the works, lays out the company’s detailed plans to blast open the mine pit, build a processing center near Hoyt Lakes, design and operate water treatment technology and then close the mine and rehabilitate the site when the copper, nickel, gold and other precious metals are played out.
The permit application, which the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will now review, also includes PolyMet’s proposal for a financial assurance package — money guaranteed and set aside to fix any problems that might happen years into the future, even if the company leaves town or files for bankruptcy.
The DNR is expected to review the applications over several months, demand changes and negotiate over how much money should be set aside to pay for any unforeseen trouble.
“There’s a certain amount of back-and-forth between the agency and the permit applicant as we identify areas where we need some supplemental information,” said DNR Assistant Commissioner Barb Naramore.
Read More: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/business/mining/4151253-polymet-submits-application-permit-mine