Mining Moratorium updates

Mining Moratorium background

April 24, 2003

Potawatomi challenge Crandon mine application

The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. - The Forest County Potawatomi argued Thursday that a company that wants to open a zinc and copper mine in northern Wisconsin can't use a Canadian mine as an example of a similar mine that hasn't polluted the environment.

Wisconsin's mining moratorium law requires an applicant to provide an example of a mine that has been closed for at least 10 years without polluting ground or surface water and a mine that has operated for 10 years without pollution before a permit can be granted.

Nicolet Minerals Co. submitted three examples of mines to meet the moratorium law's requirements. But attorneys for the Potawatomi sent a letter to Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Hassett claiming that one of the mines hasn't been closed for 10 years.

"If they can't pass the moratorium, they can't issue a permit," said Bill McClenahan, a Potawatomi spokesman. "The environment is as important as life itself."

Calls to Nicolet Minerals' Crandon offices by The Associated Press seeking comment went unanswered Thursday afternoon.

Since 1994, the company has sought state, federal and local permits to mine 55 million tons of ore from a site just south of Crandon.

Supporters say it would bring badly needed jobs to ForestCounty. Opponents, including the Potawatomi, have said the project is too risky because it would damage the environment.

Nicolet Minerals submitted details on the Sacaton mine in Casa Grande, Ariz., as an example of a mine that met both criteria of Wisconsin's mining moratorium.

But the DNR decided in May 2002 that the company didn't submit enough information about that mine and the agency couldn't decide if it was a good example, DNR attorney Charles Hammer said.

Nicolet Minerals also cited the Cullaton mine in the Nunavut Territory in far northwestern Canada as an example of a mine that was closed 10 years without polluting, and the McLaughlin mine in Lower Lake, Calif., as an example of a mine operating cleanly for 10 years.

Potawatomi attorneys said in the letter that the Cullaton mine may still be in the process of closing. They said decommissioning began in 1991, but an abandonment plan wasn't submitted to the Northwest Territories Water Board until 1996.

They also argued that acid from the Cullaton mine killed vegetation, which would be considered environmental damage under Wisconsinlaw. Samples taken from a pool of water near the dead vegetation showed acidic levels that breached the mine's water license, they said.

The letter said Canadian officials also found a lack of monitoring data to determine the full extent of environmental damage from the mine.

Larry Lynch, DNR mining team leader, said the agency was still poring over documents the Potawatomi attached to the letter. He said the DNR may issue an update on any investigations it performs on the Cullaton mine, perhaps before the DNR releases a draft environmental impact statement on the Crandon project early this fall.

Nicolet Minerals has promised more information on the Sacaton mine, Lynch said. If the DNR finds the mine didn't pollute in 10 years of operation or through 10 years of closure, the challenge to the Cullaton mine would be moot. The Sacaton mine would meet both requirements of Wisconsin's law.

The McLaughlin mine or the Cullaton mine alone would not help the company meet the law because they each address only one prong of Wisconsin's moratorium's operating and closure criteria.

Lynch said the agency and Nicolet Minerals would probably hash out whether the Cullaton mine met the criteria at the master hearing on the Crandon mine, likely to take place late next year.

Northern Wisconsin Resource Group, a subsidiary of Nicolet Hardwood Corp. of Laona, bought Nicolet Minerals and its rights to the mine site from BHP Billiton of Australiaearlier this month.

DNR officials say the sale has no bearing on Nicolet's mine application.

November 1997