For the first time since the 1970’s, the United States is seriously considering reprocessing nuclear fuel to deal with its growing nuclear waste problem.
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Photo: Royalbroil / Wiki Commons
Among the three Great Lake states, Wisconsin’s mining law is by far the strictest and has essentially halted sulfide ore mining in the state. In 1998, Wisconsin approved a law that requires any mining company seeking a permit for metallic sulfide mining to prove that they have operated a similar mine for 10 years without polluting surface or groundwater either from the mine or from the tailings. The company must also show that they closed the mine and remediated the site and, for at least 10 years after, the water above and below ground remained unpolluted. The law has been slightly weakened by the state’s Department of Natural Resources that has not written administrative rules to apply the law. Continue reading Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water: Part V: Wisconsin, the “Prove It First” State 
Photo: Flickr / save the wild up
Several groups have banded together to file a lawsuit that finds fault with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s permitting process. The National Wildlife Federation, Huron Mountain Club, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve argue that the permitting process did not adhere to the state’s 2004 non-ferrous mining law and claims that decision making was driven by politics rather than science. There was no independent Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and no one – not even Kennecott – provided a hydrological study for a mine that will be dug 1,000 feet beneath the Salmon Trout River – which is mostly fed by groundwater and is just a handful of miles from Lake Superior. Continue reading Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water: Part IV: Challenging the Mine Permitting Process 
Lake Superior Coast at Copper Harbor, Michigan. Photo: Richie Diesterheft
On a span of Michigan’s storied Upper Peninsula that includes the largest ancient forest east of the Mississippi River, a sacred Native American site called Eagle Rock, the Salmon Trout River and the shores of Lake Superior, the London-based Rio Tinto has gained the rights to mine sulfide ore and extract nickel and copper in exchange for a handful of local jobs. It is dubbed the Eagle Project. Continue reading Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water: Part III: Michigan: A River Runs Through It |
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