DNR discontinues review of Twin Metals’ mine plan

REGIONAL— The state of Minnesota has discontinued its environmental analysis of the mine plan submitted in late 2020 by Twin Metals. The Department of Natural Resources, which was overseeing the environmental review process for the state, informed the company of its decision in a letter submitted to Twin Metals on Tuesday.
The letter states that discussions between DNR staff and Twin Metals representatives had indicated that the company wished to discontinue the environmental review work, which was being undertaken at Twin Metals’ expense.
The DNR said it would issue separate correspondence terminating the contract and returning unexpended funds to the company.
The DNR decision comes in the wake of the termination last month of two federal mineral leases critical to the Twin Metals project. Twin Metals indicated this week that they intend to challenge the federal decision in court and they described the DNR’s latest action as a “pause.”
“Twin Metals Minnesota is working to determine the next steps to continue to advance our underground copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals project,” the company said in statement. “A pause on the environmental review process is necessary and appropriate while we defend our project and our mineral rights in court.”
But this week’s DNR letter suggests that Twin Metals will face other challenges even should they prevail in court. DNR officials indicated they’re concerned about aspects of the Twin Metals proposal, including their current plan to dispose of tailings on 640 acres of state school trust lands.
“Based on information available to date, the DNR has determined that Twin Metals’ currently proposed location for its tailings facility would potentially encumber School Trust mineral resources,” wrote DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen in her Feb. 15 letter to Twin Metals. “Furthermore, the DNR believes this use would pose an unacceptable financial risk to the State and potentially to the School Trust Fund. The DNR has notified the Office of School Trust Lands of our concerns with the proposed tailings facility location.”
Those concerns likely center around the school trust’s potential legal liability should the tailings facility eventually pollute, which is common for such facilities. Federal court decisions, such as Chevron Mining v. U.S., in other jurisdictions have indicated that surface owners of property polluted by mining waste, whether or not the owner created the waste, can be held financially liable under the federal law known most commonly as the Superfund Act.
Becky Rom, of Ely, a retired attorney who heads the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, argued that the state school trust could face substantial financial liability. “Twin Metals is a shell company and at the end of the day, it’s only asset would be a polluted mine site,” said Rom. “Under the Chevron case, the obligation for addressing the pollution could fall on the state.”
Even if Twin Metals were to prevail in the legal battle over its two federal mineral leases, Rom predicts Twin Metals would need to find a new location for its tailings facility, and that could prove challenging, and require the company to significantly revise their mine plan.
“This is not just a ‘pause’,” said Rom. “This is a bigger deal than that.”