Iron Range citizens coalition sues over PolyMet Mine

Iron Range residents have challenged plans to build a wetland to replace wetlands that the proposed PolyMet Copper Mine would destroy. The Wetlands Action Group has field suit in St. Louis County in an attempt to stop the county from following a wetlands mitigation plan that would likely see their homesteads flooded. They are attempting to stop logging on a mitigation site. Such logging is required to turn the site into a wetland.

The full story can be read by following the link to a detailed article in the Duluth Tribune.

This mining project - PolyMet - is the first in what the DNR and the Pawlenty administration see as many sites using sulfide mining processes that have wreaked havoc to the environment in every single location they have been tried. This technique results in extreme environmental pollution, destroys watersheds, and leaves untold horror stories in terms of cleanup costs once the mines are closed. Wisconsin has a legacy of one mine, called Crandon, for which it is now paying the price and has effectively shut out any further such operations in the state. Pawlenty and company have chosen to ignore the sad tale of Crandon and are willing to risk Minnesota's Northland and its waters for centuries to come.

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