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I love NE Mn and it's people and I respect the offices our elected leaders hold and I love our system of government. It's not perfect but I respect the balance of powers. I strongly oppose mining in the Duluth Complex, and Polymet is in the Duluth Complex and being built as a first step to a mining district in the Duluth Complex I have family from Hibbing and the utmost respect for the people on the Iron Range. The problems associated with mining are not their fault, and their support for it is intertwined with their concern for their families and health. They care. People around Swan Lake care. The elected leaders on the traditional Iron Range are often functioning as publicly funded mining lobbyists as are their newspapers. Despite recent back pedaling, "mine and log the hell out of it" and "jobs jobs jobs" is the cry and all that's lacking is poms and short skirts.. They want their cake and to eat it too. They want to say they protect the region but want to profit from grinding it up. The Duluth Complex is a DIFFERENT kind of ore body, it is a complex or group of intrusions or areas of mineral but it is all sulfide laden and it is a much more dangerous area to mine than the western range as the resulting Acid Mine Drainage makes it the most polluting industry. This isn't a team sport. We can't just announce we want both the mining and the healthy environment. This is like King Solomon saying to cut the baby in half. Some things just cannot be done without harm no matter how desperately you wish. We all know there are limits to what science can do. Anyone who has been to the dentist knows things that sound great like getting a new tooth put in are pretty painful and complicated. We can't cure cancer though we are making strides and we can't get our rivers clean of mercury - the MPCA can't even manage to study mercury effectively in the St Louis River and rivers in Mn are reacting in unpredicted ways to mercury in the air. 1 in 10 babies on the north shore of Lake Superior are born with abnormally high levels of mercury in their tiny bodies In the womb our mothers body mistakes mercury for an amino acid and the baby's nervous system is harmed. Read about mercury's impact on the unborn baby. Read about sulfide and how it changes mercury and makes it more harmful Then ask yourself if you trust politicians enough to follow them down this path. The minerals are safely in our state, tucked in the ground waiting. Right now if we mine them they go on the open market, most likely to China. Nothing against China but i dont think our mining here decreases their mining and pollution If anything it just makes the price of minerals a speck lower as it adds to what is being sold Other nations are keeping theirs, not selling them on the open market. Until we can figure out how to take them out without harm or half a millennia of expensive treatment we can just leave them there. They will still be ours. I for one would gladly do with few or no or old gadgets, fewer titanium golf clubs and i dont think every kid needs a cell phone. We dont have to have all this junk And it's not fair to throw that kind of mining PR line at the people after marketing the toys and gizmos and basing the economy on endless buying of junk. It's not fair. It's a line mining companies use the world over. Is it really worth selling our soils and water and the health of the Arrowhead? Is it worth more babies born with abnormally high levels of mercury and nervous system damage at birth? Is it worth losing the value of our homes? Banks are rethinking giving mortgages where folks don't own the mineral rights. Google it. It's a real and emerging problem in MN I do not think we will need the minerals less in 100 years. We sure will know more about how to extract them properly if it is possible. I know, 100 years is a long long time to wait. So is 500.