Measure pits business against environment
Republicans say bill to loosen restrictions on mining would help spur state’s economy
LADYSMITH - During its four years of operation, the Flambeau Mine produced copper, gold and silver from a deposit that was relatively small, but rich.
It closed in 1997, the last mine of its kind to operate in Wisconsin. That could soon change. In a major policy shift for the state, a bill by Republican lawmakers would strike down restrictions on such mining, ushering in a new era of mineral exploration.
The legislation is sparking a sharp political fight between environmental groups and business interests.
Environmentalists are highlighting the perils of mining rock from sulfide deposits, which have a history of leaching acidic material and polluting water. For months, they have anticipated the legislation and used their websites, social media and other forums to criticize changes in the law.
Supporters of the legislation are touting the economic advantages of mining. They’re also going on the attack, with one organization, the newly organized Natural Resource Development Association, using Twitter to highlight the conviction of a leading mining opponent for attempted arson and possession of a fire bomb at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Army ROTC building in 1970.
The Flambeau Mine plays a major role in that fight, with the two sides completely disagreeing on its life and legacy. One side argues the mine was a model of safe operation; the other argues it is still polluting
the Flambeau River and groundwater. The former site stands 140 feet from the shoreline.
The state’s last battle over mining involved loosening regulations for iron mining in 2013 when Florida-based Gogebic Taconite pressed legislators for changes it said were needed to build a massive open pit mine in portions of Ashland and Iron counties. The company dropped its plans in 2015.
‘Back in play’
The challenge of sulfide mining centers on waste rock as a source of acid mining drainage. Mine waste, especially in the western United States, has been responsible for polluting more than 3,000 miles of streams and 400,000 acres of surrounding land, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency figures show.
Supporters say much of the pollution is a vestige of bygone days before federal environmental laws took effect in the 1970s. Modern mines, they say, can be constructed safely.
They also emphasize the economic and strategic advantages of tapping home-grown resources to build automobiles, appliances — even the metal panels on the Milwaukee Bucks’ new arena. The exterior of the arena will be covered with 8,937 panels of zinc mined in France, according to Mortenson Construction, chief contractor for project.
Sen. Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst), a chief sponsor of ending the mining moratorium law, predicts that passage of the bill by the GOP-controlled Legislature could prompt companies to start early exploration work for minerals such as copper, zinc, gold and silver as soon as next year.
“Exploratory companies tell me they are back in play (in Wisconsin) if we change the law,” Tiffany said.
Toronto-based Aquila Resources Inc. has two potential sites in Wisconsin: The Bend copper-gold deposit in Taylor County, 35 miles southeast of the Flambeau Mine, and the Reef gold deposit in Marathon County.
Aquila is seeking permission in Michigan to construct a zinc and gold mine near the Menominee River on the Michigan-Wisconsin border.
Also, Keweenaw Copper, the U.S. subsidiary of Highland Copper Co. Inc., has three potential projects the Upper Peninsula and is lobbying for changing the Wisconsin law, presumably so it can get in.
At the first legislative hearing on Thursday at Ladysmith High School, Roger David Morton, an economic geologist and mining consultant, estimated companies could spend $1 billion in exploration work at potentially 15 mines in northern Wisconsin.
“You are sitting on a treasure chest here,” he said. “The potential is immense.”
But research work by experts from several state agencies, dating back to the 1970s and later in the 1990s, found many of the deposits had insufficient amounts to be marketable.
The mining bill’s other chief sponsor, Rep. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield), likened mining to Foxconn Technology Group and its plan to construct a $10 billion electronics plant in the state.
“I think that the same kind of opportunity exists in northern Wisconsin through the opening up of mining operations,” Hutton said.
Wisconsin alone
The cornerstone of the legislation would remove a requirement, passed by the Legislature in 1998, that a mining company must show regulators that another sulfide mine in the United States or Canada operated for at least 10 years without acid drainage. It would also have to show a mine had been closed for 10 years without polluting.
Wisconsin is the only state with such a requirement.
The condition has kept mining companies out of Wisconsin since Rio Tinto Kennecott closed the Flambeau Mine. Environmental groups say that proves sulfide mines can’t operate safely. If they could, the law wouldn’t be an issue.
But those who want to see the law changed say comparing the track record of a mine in arid Nevada, for example, with a site in water-rich Wisconsin is unfair.
“We deserve the right to make the case,” said Paul Kent, an attorney and lobbyist for Keweenaw Copper.
Contentious battle
The battle in 2012 and 2013 over iron mining legislation was highly contentious and the latest debate on sulfide mining is no different.
On Thursday, Lawrence Mann, a member of the Forest County Potawatomi, interrupted an interview between a TV reporter and Tiffany and Hutton and held up his phone to show what he claimed was a polluted pond at the Eagle mine, a nickel and copper mine in the Upper Peninsula.
“You can see the destruction that these mines are doing,” Mann interjected.
In fact, the pond he showed is not located at the mine.
Later, during the Senate Sporting Heritage, Mining and Forestry Committee meeting at the high school, Tiffany asked Al Gedicks, executive secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, about his felony conviction for possession of a fire bomb at UW in 1970.
The issue was first raised by Nathan Conrad, a spokesman for the Natural Resource Development Association, in social media. Conrad is a former spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, state Public Service Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
At the hearing, as some in the audience groaned, Tiffany defended his question of Gedicks and said, “It goes to credibility — he doesn’t have a geology degree.”
Tiffany previously asked Gedicks, a retired sociology professor, whether he had a degree in geology.
“This is not a trial of my personal background … this is not the appropriate forum for this discussion,” Gedicks said.
‘What you can’t see’
At Flambeau, Rio Tinto, then known as Kennecott, operated a 35-acre open pit mine between 1993 to 1997.
In all, the company removed 181,000 tons of copper, 3.3 million ounces of silver and 334,000 ounces of gold, according Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources records.
Today, the 181-acre property is open to the public, with trails that cut through a lush mix of native grasses and wetlands planted by Rio Tinto.
The DNR says the Flambeau is the “only example of a metallic mine that was permitted, constructed, operated and reclaimed under the state’s existing regulatory framework,” agency documents show.
Opponents, however, say that natural splendor of the site belies the contamination of groundwater and a small stream.
“The surface looks great,” said Bill Davis, director of the Wisconsin chapter of the Sierra Club. “It’s what you can’t see that is still the problem.”
Quarterly groundwater samples of copper, manganese, sulfates and other measures in the reclaimed pit show levels that are higher than the company’s consultant had predicted, opponents such as the Sierra Club and the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council say.
An intermittent stream, known as Stream C, which flows into the Flambeau, also contains high levels of copper and zinc. Water samples from the stream prompted the DNR in 2014 to conclude it is not meeting water quality standards.
Robert E. Moran, an expert hydrogeologist hired by the Sierra Club and the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, said the data show, “in short, the Flambeau mine is the poster child for a severely-flawed permitting and oversight process that has likely generated longterm public liabilities.”
Environmentalists and mine supporters have fought about the data for years. Mine opponents filed a federal lawsuit, but an appeals court ruled in 2013 that Rio Tinto complied with water pollution laws.
Steve Donohue, vice president of mining for Rio Tinto’s consultant, De Pere-based Foth Infrastructure & Environment, said the overarching question is whether the mine is polluting the river.
Water samples upstream and downstream from the mine show no signs that copper, zinc or sulfates are polluting the river, he said.
“By now, 20 years after the mine has closed, you would expect to see higher levels downstream,” Donohue said.