Dan Hernesmaa’s letter in the June 27 edition contains incorrect statements about important matters relating to the Antofagasta/Twin Metals proposal to mine copper upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Hernesmaa cites Rens Verburg, a geochemist who is employed by mining company consultant Golder Associates. In a recent letter to the Ely Echo, Verburg made statements that are directly contrary to demonstrable facts. For one, he flatly stated that “no surface rock dumps or stockpiles are required, . . .” Therefore, he claimed, the risk of acid drainage “from surface waste facilities is zero.” The Twin Metals mine plan submitted to state and federal regulators said that waste rock from the mines would be stored on the surface for years.
The EPA says that the Duluth Complex has an inherent capacity to generate acid. State and federal regulators reviewed the Twin Metals mine plan and data for two years (2019-2021) before rejecting the plan (federal) or suspending its review (state). The Minnesota DNR found that Twin Metals did not substantiate its claim that its tailings would not generate acid mine drainage.
Further, the pollution potential goes beyond acid; neutral pH drainage includes high sulfates and heavy metals, among other pollutants. Copper mining in the Rainy River headwaters would send pollution –sulfates, sulfides, and heavy metals – into lakes and rivers flowing into the Boundary Waters. Consultants for mining companies can do a poor job of predicting how much pollution mines will generate. When applying for DNR approval of expansion of the Peter Mitchell Pit near Babbitt, the company and its consultant, Golder Associates, developed a plan and design for a waste rock stockpile and cover, along with an impact assessment model that predicted a maximum increase in sulfate concentrations of five percent. The DNR gave its approval. In 2022, the mining company reported sulfate readings that indicated that beginning with the commencement of the stockpiling project in January 2019, sulfate concentrations had increased over 43 percent. This pollution has not been remediated and it drains ultimately to Birch Lake and downstream to the BWCAW.
Verburg also claimed that Twin Metals has “adopted dry stack tailings management, considered the most environmentally sustainable tailings storage method.” In fact, dry stacked tailings would be highly polluting in the Boundary Waters watershed. In November 2018 findings related to the PolyMet (now NewRange) proposal, the DNR commissioner stated: “In a wet climate, dry stacking has major environmental disadvantages. Maintaining dry stacked tailings as ‘dry’ in areas with substantial precipitation and/or a high water-table is difficult. Once exposed to rain or snow, the dry stack becomes wet” and “heavy metals and other constituents may be washed into surrounding soils and nearby water bodies.” Findings of Fact, Conclusions, and Order of Commissioner – Nov. 1, 2018; Dam Safety Permits 2016-1380 and 2016-1383.
Hernesmaa’s comments about environmental review do not reflect reality. Twin Metals seeks to mine federal lands and minerals. A federal NEPA process resulted in Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s 2023 decision to withdraw federal lands and minerals in the Rainy River headwaters from mining for the current legal maximum of 20 years. The Forest Service recommendation of the withdrawal was supported in part by a study of 14 operating hardrock mines in the U.S. that showed that all 14 polluted nearby waters.
The suggestion that anyone with concerns about a Twin Metals mine will have years to make their case during environmental review ignores the actions of officeholders who are doing the bidding of mining companies. Congressman Pete Stauber introduced a bill to require that environmental review of a Twin Metals mine in the Boundary Waters watershed be completed within 18 months and that permitting be completed six months thereafter. Current Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has issued an order requiring that, upon the request of a mining company, environmental assessments would be completed in 14 days and environmental impact statements would be completed within 28 days, with only 10 days for public comment. Pursuant to this order, the Interior Department recently completed an environmental assessment of a uranium mine in Utah in 11 days.
Interior Secretary Haaland made the right decision to protect the Boundary Waters by banning sulfide-ore copper mining in the headwaters.
Becky Rom
Ely