Kennecott Eagle Minerals' Mine Contested By Michigan's Huron Mountain Club

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A private club in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has filed a federal lawsuit to halt construction of a nickel and copper mine, saying Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. did not obtain necessary federal permits.

The 250-member Huron Mountain Club, which owns 19,000 acres of forested property that comes within 3.3 miles of the mine site, contends the project under development in northwestern Marquette County would damage the Salmon Trout River and nearby wetlands. Also at risk are endangered species, club members' property values and a culturally significant site where American Indians worship, the club argues.

Activities that could do such damage require permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Sunday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. The suit targets Kennecott Eagle for not getting the permits, and the Corps and other federal agencies for failing to demand the company seek them.

"Kennecott's unauthorized construction work and proposed operation of the Eagle Mine consequently are illegal," the suit said.

Judge Robert Holmes Bell rejected the club's request for an order to immediately halt work on the mine, but scheduled a hearing for June 6.

The suit is the latest potential legal hurdle for Kennecott Eagle, a subsidiary of London-based Rio Tinto, which is targeting an ore deposit expected to yield up to 300 million pounds of nickel and 200 million pounds of copper. The mine would be the only one in the U.S. devoted primarily to production of nickel, an ingredient in stainless steel and products such as batteries, magnets and ceramics.

Kennecott Eagle applied for a state permit to construct the mine in 2006. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality approved it the next year, a decision upheld by an administrative law judge. Opponents, including the Huron Mountain Club, have asked the state Court of Appeals to take the case.

The company has nearly finished construction on surface facilities, while the drilling of an underground tunnel to the ore body is about halfway complete, spokesman Deb Muchmore said. Kennecott Eagle plans to begin extracting minerals next year.

"While we have not had the opportunity to review the claims of the suit, we will vigorously defend our legal position," Kennecott Eagle President Adam Burley said in a statement. "We will also defend the jobs of our workers and those the project has created in Michigan's Upper Peninsula."

Portions of the mine will be drilled directly beneath the Salmon Trout river, home to the rare coaster brook trout. As groundwater seeps into the subterranean chambers, the river's level will drop and adjacent wetlands will shrink, the lawsuit says. It contends the waterways also will be affected as the company places fill material in the chambers after ore is removed.

The suit argues that the federal Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act require permits from the Army corps for such activity.

Before issuing the permits, the corps would have to analyze potential effects on the environment, threatened and endangered species and Eagle Rock, a 60-foot-high outcrop near the tunnel entrance, said Rick Addison, an attorney for the Huron Mountain Club. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community says the rock is a sacred site where generations of tribal members have worshipped. The company has fenced off the rock and promises to grant access for religious ceremonies.

Federal regulators have mostly steered clear of the Kennecott project. The Environmental Protection Agency originally said it would need a wastewater discharge permit but dropped the requirement after the company changed its system.

Lynn Rose, a spokeswoman for the Army corps' Detroit district, declined comment on the lawsuit.

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Comments

[Yoopernewsman]

07:43 AM on 07/07/2012

We knew it would happen - two fire departments have been called for mutual aid at a chemical leak or spill at the Kennecott Eagle Mine on the once pristine Yellow Dog Plains in north Marquette County, MI.
At approx 6:03 this morning (Sat., July 7, 2012) the Powell Township Fire Department was dispatched to a "chemical Leak" at the Eagle Mine.
Then Powell Township firefighters requested Marquette Township Fire Department on mutual aid to assist with the recharging of air packs (the breathing apparatuses needed to prevent death with chemicals and fires).
I am sure that owners Rio Tinto/Kennecott will downplay this matter.
It was no coincidence that a rare tornado hit the mine about a month ago on the first day it was opened for a public tour - and that 3 days after Kennecott started desecrating sacred Eagle Rock (and making arrests) the one of then chief geologists at the mine was killed in a violent traffic accident by a drunk driving buddy.
That is what happens when you desecrate and dynamite sacred Eagle Rock - that for thousands of years was used by the Anishinaabe as a religious and ceremonial site.
Sadly for humans, I think many bad things are destined for this mine operation.

[l monroe]

02:02 AM on 05/09/2012

It seems there is big money trying to stop Joe Peabody from making a living again. They apparently want Mexicans living in the dead town after they close the plant for servants. If the mine is working, cleanly, there is no reason to shut it down. If the mine is shut down for to long, the mine will be destroyed by bank notes and corporate taxation coming due. If they are clean, utilizing recirculating pumps and containing the cooper wastes, they should try to kill the big money hunting reserve for tortuous interference with commerce. I'm not trying to play Solomon but I've seen this crap before. Back to nature with out predators destroying the land through over populations of dear, elk, and moose. The herds suffer, the land suffers, and everything gets sick including the fish in the streams from silt from the erosion and loss of habitat(reeds and willows that house fry) from the herds. Rolling giant forest fires due to dead trees not being taken out. Stewards of the land my great greasy buttocks!

[PeaceLuvJoy]

07:13 PM on 05/08/2012

Apparently, there is big money in these lawsuits.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/08/environmental-groups-paid-millions-by-federal-agencies-sue-studies-show/

[Oginikwe]

11:07 PM on 05/08/2012

Yeah, right. Recovering lawyer fees is what is keeping all the environmental groups afloat. Shake out the rust from between your ears.

[Max Load]

02:27 PM on 05/08/2012

I'd say Kenecott may be slowed, but will ultimately prevail, simply due to demand for the resources.

What I didn't know until now was that Kenecott was no longer an American company and hadn't been since the 1980s.

The article made me curious with it's statement about the Rio-Tinto subsidiary status, so I had to look up the history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennecott_Utah_Copper

[Oginikwe]

11:04 PM on 05/08/2012

Look at their environmental record.

[standup11]

01:06 PM on 05/08/2012

Rio Tinto, Kennecott's parent company is one of the worst polluters in the world. They have a horrific environmental record. I thought Michigan would take a lesson from what Kennecott did to their neighbor in Wisconsin, but they didn't.

Those here in the UP concerned about the environment feel Michigan's DEQ and the EPA dropped the ball in allowing Kennecott to move forward with their dirty nickel and copper mine.
But decent paying jobs are scarce in the UP and most people are in favor of the mine ignoring any potential damage to the environment even though these jobs will all be short term and what Kennecott will do to the environment will last forever.

Many people have tried to stop Kennecott who has tentative plans to open numerous small mines across the U.P. Thirty or forty years from now the land will be dotted with ugly holes and environmental messes. Kennecott will probably be long gone by then but future generations will still be dealing with the aftermath from one of the worst polluters in the world.

[mhed27]

10:29 PM on 05/08/2012

They've been mining in the UP for over a hundred years, much of that with more environmentally harmful mining techniques than Kennecott is using. There is relatively little areas in the UP that have seen large pollution/environmental effects from the previous mining operations. I find it hard to believe with in today's culture of strict regulation and with advance mining techniques Kennecott will cause any long term harm to the environment.

A large iron ore mine has been operating less than 100 miles away from this mine has been operating for over 40 years. I can't recall any serious complaints regarding this operation and they are surface mining.

[SamSpade7]

12:42 PM on 05/08/2012

This is going to be a contentious public battle. The UP is very economically depressed and needs all the jobs it can get. This mine would probably provide hundreds of well-paying jobs. But then again the UP is mostly wild and needs to be preserved in perpetua.

[DBlondeau]

02:40 PM on 05/08/2012

The Eagle Mine is situated inside a relatively small footprint. The surface operations at the mine take up roughly 130 acres. Upon cessation of mining operations, Rio Tinto will ensure that best practices are employed and that reclamation obligations are promptly and efficiently fulfilled. As a born and raised Yooper I am confident that our team can build, operate, and close Eagle responsibly with respect to both the environment and surrounding community.

[Oginikwe]

11:03 PM on 05/08/2012

DBlondeau would have you believe that the mining companies are good corporate citizens but they are not. At the former site of the White Pine Mine in White Pine, Michigan, there is 6,000 acres of tailings ponds full of toxins. They dried up one year and coated the town in a toxic yellow dust. The MIneral River was re-routed to flood them once again. Now, the Chinese are going to build a smelter in White Pine to smelt the copper ore coming out of the incoming Copperwood Mine by Wakefield. That makes it so much easier to ship our natural resources to China.

[mhed27]

11:26 PM on 05/08/2012

It's very unlikely that a new smelter will ever be built in the U.S. The environmental permitting a company would have to go through would simply not be worth it. There used to be a smelter in White Pine, but it no longer exists, largely for this reason.

Mining and industry in general is very different in the US than it was 20 or 30 years ago. We've become much more conscience of the impacts of industry on the environment. The White Pine mine was shutdown in 1995 and we've come a long way environmentally since then.

[SamSpade7]

12:50 PM on 05/09/2012

Is White Pine a native community? I drove past it this past summer and it looked like government constructed base housing but there was no base so....