Is copper-nickel mining worth the environmental risk? That was Minnesota Public Radio’s question of the day on Monday of this week.

The Mining Truth group has been asking four questions.

1) Will Minnesota’s water stay safe and clean?

2) Are there safeguards in place for when things go wrong?

3) Will the company leave the site clean and maintenance free?

4) Will Minnesota taxpayers be protected?

Those four largely-environmental questions are being debated locally at public meetings, by speakers on both sides—at the Tuesday Group, the Monday legislators’ gathering, on Facebook and Web pages, and across the state in letters to the editor.

Cities that will experience population hikes if PolyMet Mining goes ahead with its local projects should be asking one more question.

Are we ready?

Today the 1,800-page environmental impact statement is due to be released on PolyMet’s open pit copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes. MPR reports that if PolyMet is successful in its bid, “11 other companies waiting in the wings could follow suit, bringing a new kind of mining to the state’s Iron Range.”

One mine and 11 more could also bring new kinds of cities to the Iron Range. PolyMet projects that an estimated 1,000 temporary construction jobs, 360 full-time jobs once the mine, processing plant and hydrometallurgical plant are up and running, and 600 spin-off jobs could be in Ely’s future.

Imagine the positive outcomes: An estimated $515 million increase in tax revenue for St. Louis County and $15 million in local and state tax revenue providing financing for roads, airports, hospitals and libraries would be a good thing.

Now imagine the Ely area with 1,000 construction workers over months and perhaps years. Where are they living? Might we be thinking temporary housing like that of the North Dakota “man camps?”

Well, that wouldn’t be quite as disruptive as the Watford City, North Dakota, chaos where the oil boom hit, rocketing the population from 1,700 to 6,000 to 10,000 in two years. A March National Geographic article on the Bakken Shale Oil fields there described the human onslaught on small prairie towns in the area.

In Watford City the reporter found, “A housing shortage so acute that men—and it’s still mostly men—are forced to sleep in their trucks or in overpriced motels; pay ‘gouge-zone’ fees to park their campers, RVs and house trailers; or live in one of the expensive prefab, dorm-like ‘man camps’ that serve as instant but sterile bedroom communities for towns and worksites.”

As much as I love our local culture, I know that our residents can be a bit socially insular. We’re happy with our friends and groups, the ones we invite to wedding showers or the hunting shack and expect to see in church or the neighborhood bar. It can be a bit difficult for newcomers to find their niche.

Some local folks will find jobs in these new fangled copper-nickel mines but how many newcomers will fill the ranks of the estimated 350 PolyMet jobs? Imagine that just 300 new people from around the U.S. and perhaps the world come to town, some with their families. PolyMet also estimates that the influx will result in the creation of 600 spin-off jobs. More new folks to integrate into Ely and surrounding areas.

Are we ready to think about permanent housing, or “rooftops” as they call them in Watford City. Apartment buildings, housing developments and new construction around area lakes would change the look of the city and nearby townships.

Traffic on Sheridan Street in July and August now drives me a little nuts. You’ll find me avoiding the tourism influx of vehicles the minute I hit town. Are we ready to think about busier streets?

The description of current Watford City continues, “Streets clotted with noisy, exhaust-belching tanker trucks, gravel trucks, flatbeds, dump trucks, service trucks, and—the personal vehicle of choice in the oil patch—oversize, gas-gorging pickups. More crime, more highway accidents, more medical emergencies. People on fixed incomes forced to move because they can’t afford the steep rent hikes. Overtaxed water and sewer systems. Prostitution. Registered sex offenders at large in the community.”

Yikes. But, I am not saying that mining employees are going to be sex offenders or will attract prostitutes to town. I am saying that they are going to be human beings, and a certain percentage of humans, even here in Ely, have a tendency to do stupid, wrong, illegal things. Only with 1,000 construction workers and people taking those 300-plus-600 jobs, there will be more of us to do them.

Of course, there might also be more people going to church, contributing to the hospital fund and marching in the July Fourth parade.

Are we ready to think about more folks in the grocery store, or maybe even a third grocery store? Might we see two or three big box stores and fast food outlets? Are we thinking about expanding the police and fire departments? Water, sewer, utility, waste disposal, road repair and emergency services need to be considered.

Yes, it’s important to think about the four questions and critical environmental concerns around copper-nickel mining, but are cities and townships also realistically pondering the challenges of the boom that mining could bring? And are they considering the downturn in 20 to 50 years when the mining companies leave and the bust follows?

Seriously. Are we ready?