Yesterday's Michigan DNR decision to give over state surface lands to permit the extraction of nickel and copper through the tainted sulfide mining process was disappointing. Kennecott's news release would have you believe, though, that any further proceedings are a formality and the mining will begin this year.
State officials privately contend that a federal U.S. EPA permit needed for mine waste disposal will prove tougher than anticipated. And a lawsuit to stop the mine is still pending.
As Save the Wild UP says, it's not a done deal. But it shouldn't even be this close. The process was frustrated from the start by state government's unwillingness even to consider a mining law like that of neighboring Wisconsin, which requires evidence that sulfide mining can be done safely before it is ever authorized. That is apparently too much for Michigan to ask on behalf of its health, environment and Great Lakes.
http://www.savethewildup.org/blog/dnr/
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