A May 2018 lawsuit brought by Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and nine Northeastern Minnesota businesses against the Trump Administration appears to be wrapping up.
Central to the case is a challenge to the Trump administration’s
May 2018 temporary reinstatement of two long-expired mineral leases on Superior National Forest lands within the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).
A victory for the plaintiffs would likely end the Twin Metals lease renewals and return the leases to terminated status.
Two of the nine businesses involved in the legal action are from Cook County – Hungry Jack Outfitters, and Sawbill Canoe Outfitters. The other seven are Voyageur Outward Bound School, Ely Outfitting Co., River Point Resort and Outfitting Co., Northstar Canoes, Wenonah Canoe, Women’s Wilderness Discovery, and Piragis Northwoods.
In December 2016, the Obama administration suspended the leases when, after years of study and overwhelming public comment, the U.S. Forest Service concluded that copper mining under these leases posed an unacceptable risk of irreparable damage to the Boundary Waters and surrounding Superior National Forest lands and waters.
The lawsuit against the Trump administration asserts that it acted unlawfully and used illegal maneuvers to push through federal mineral leases for Antofagasta’s proposed Twin Metals mine on the edge of the BWCAW.
Twin Metals Minnesota (TMM) hopes to mine copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, gold, and silver approximately nine miles southeast of Ely and 11 miles northeast of the city of Babbitt near the BWCAW.
If the court decides to grant the permits, Antofagasta plans to build a 100-acre ore-processing facility next to Birch Lake, located just outside of the 1.1 million acres of interconnected waterways and boreal forests that make up the BWCAW.
As planned now, the processing plant will accept approximately 20,000 tons of mineralized ore per day. Twin Metals projects the mining operation will bring 650 full-time jobs to the area as well as create 1,300 spinoff jobs.
The counter-argument is that if the mine is permitted and the BWCAW watershed is poisoned by sulfide-ore copper mining acid runoff, the economic and environmental impact would be devastating now and into the far-off future.
According to the Outdoor Industry Association, outdoor recreation in Minnesota generates annually $16.7 billion in consumer spending, $4.5 billion in wages and salaries, and $1.4 billion in state and local tax revenue, and it supports 140,000 direct jobs. Explore Minnesota (the state tourism department) stated last year that the Boundary Waters and Voyageurs national parks are significant contributors to the economy of northeastern Minnesota, where tourism supports more than 17,000 jobs and generates $913 million in sales annually.
The lawsuit also challenges the Department of the Interior ‘s decision to abandon a longstanding federal mineral leasing policy. That policy, which received strong bipartisan support, now distorts the language of the expired leases to benefit a Chileanowned mining company which has a history of pollution.
The Trump administration’s decision to reinstate the lease “ignored the U.S. Forest Service’s decision to withhold consent to reinstate the mineral leases because of the likelihood of harm to the water quality of the Boundary Waters and the inability to mitigate Acid-Mine Drainage (AMD) in the vast interconnected rivers, lakes and streams of the BWCA,” states the brief filed with the court.
Of the BWCAW’s 1.1 million acres, 190,000 acres are water. There are over 1,100 lakes and hundreds of miles of streams and rivers flowing in and out of the park, many of which flow into the 1,180,000-acre Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.
Copper-nickel sulfide mining produces acid waste and, if not adequately contained for hundreds of years, will release heavy metals (lead, mercury, etc.) into the air and water.
When asked about the significance of the court case,
Tom Landwehr, executive director of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, replied, “The outcome of this lawsuit is critical for the Boundary Waters, the Arrowhead, and all of Minnesota. Not only is it essential for the well-being of the people, plants, animals, fish, and birds, but by preserving our natural habitat, we will save the long-term potential economic future in the Northland as well.”
According to Jeremy Drucker, senior advisor for the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, oral argument for the reinstatement case was set late Friday, Nov. 22 for Dec. 20 at 10 a.m.
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