After a week of delay, the Department of Natural Resources has posted the full environmental impact statement on PolyMet Mining’s proposed NorthMet project near Hoyt Lakes.

The release of the EIS comes a week ahead of the official release, set for Nov. 2. That date will mark the start of a public comment period that will last at least 45 days, and possibly longer. A number of environmental groups, as well as the federal Environmental Protection Agency, have urged the DNR to consider a 120-day comment period to provide the public and stakeholders more time to understand the complex and nearly 1,000 page document.

PolyMet officials indicate they expect to complete the EIS and permitting process and be under construction by the end of 2010, but that could prove a challenging timeline, given the frequent delays associated with environmental review, particularly on major projects. Concerns raised by a number of cooperating agencies, both federal and tribal, could also require additional research in order to respond adequately to comments.

Environmental organizations quickly made it clear that they will be monitoring the process closely— at least two had issued press statements within minutes of the posting of the report on the DNR website. “PolyMet’s project represents a new kind of mining which has never been done in Minnesota before,” said Mary Marrow, staff attorney at Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. “It’s a type of mining that has led to major environmental disasters in other places.”

PolyMet officials counter that the EIS process is designed to address such concerns. “There’s a lot of technical information that will come out,” said LaTisha Gietzen, spokesperson for PolyMet. “There will be multiple alternatives and each one looks at ways to mitigate or avoid impacts.” she said.

You can find the full EIS at www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/polymet/eis_toc.html.

Editor’s Note: The Timberjay will be reporting in detail on the EIS over the next several weeks.