County Board: No to PEIS
Mesabi Daily News
Bill Hanna
The St. Louis County Board voted 6-0 Tuesday for a resolution against a far-reaching Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Superior National Forest at a meeting that turned rambunctious with outbursts by mining opponents.
The meeting drew about 70 people equally split on the issue.
County Commissioner Keith Nelson called for a break in the session for decorum and some police presence.
“I asked for law enforcement so that everyone would be treated with respect. I was concerned about the atmosphere in the room. All of them (copper/nickel/precious metals opponents) were allowed their five minutes to speak to the board. But as soon as we started to speak they became disrespectful,” said Nelson, who had pushed for a County Board roll call vote on the resolution.
Ely Echo
Editorial
This past week city councils in Ely, Babbitt and Aurora passed resolutions in opposition to a proposed PEIS in the Superior National Forest. We’re sure this was done with the best of intentions, but the further we dig into this the stranger it gets.
To start with, a PEIS is a programmatic environmental impact statement. From what we can gather, instead of looking at one proposed mining project, the USFS would look at all projects and see what the impact would be.
The PEIS has been called a “stealth attack” on the future of mining in northeastern Minnesota. Those looking to support mining see this as a delay in getting projects underway and a duplication of other EIS already completed or in the works.
Understandably, this has a lot of folks very upset including Rep. Rick Nolan, the Iron Range delegation, industry groups and mining businesses.
MinnPost
Cyndy Brucato
The DFL Iron Range legislative delegation has fired off a letter to Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, using language that sounds like the GOP’s campaign themes.
The letter protests a potential U.S. Forest Service “programmatic environmental impact statement” that would evaluate mining throughout northern Minnesota and the Superior National Forest. A coalition of environmental groups has requested the PEIS.
“A regional or PEIS proposal … is not necessary or appropriate, would be an inefficient use of federal resources, does not contribute to the public interest … and would cause unacceptable delay in bringing jobs to Minnesota,” wrote the eight-DFLer delegation.
Aurora OKs Resolution Opposed to PEIS
Mesabi Daily News
Bill Hanna
The Aurora City Council has unanimously approved a strongly-worded resolution against a proposed far-reaching Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Superior National Forest.
And the resolution, which was passed 5-0 at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, also calls on Minnesota’s elected officials to “demand the U.S. Department of Agriculture cease PEIS consideration.”
Duluth News Tribune
Opinion: Hal Quinn (President and CEO of the National Mining Association)
How are labor strikes in South Africa, Western trade sanctions against Russia, and ample mineral resources in Minnesota related? They all affect the global availability of platinum-group metals like platinum and palladium, the raw materials critical to U.S. competitiveness as well as economic opportunity in Minnesota. As tensions rise across Russia and Ukraine, the potential for further economic sanctions could disrupt Russian supplies of platinum-group metals. The current labor strike in South Africa’s mining sector has shut in production and further exacerbated supply concerns at a time of growing demand.
Platinum-group metals are crucial to the supply chains of countless U.S. industries and contribute to the production process of more than 20 percent of all manufactured goods. These metals are found in everything from catalytic converters and fuel cells in next-generation vehicles to computer chips and medical equipment, among various other applications across a myriad of industries. As prices for these metals spike to their highest levels since August 2011, American businesses are forced to play a zero-sum game to secure their raw-material needs. As it stands, the U.S. remains reliant on foreign imports for more than 60 percent of our palladium and nearly 80 percent of our platinum.