Judge upholds permits for Rio Tinto subsidiary’s mine in USA, but with caveat
Administrative Law Judge Richard Patterson announced on Tuesday, August 18, that he will uphold permits issued to Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in 2007 for the company’s “Eagle Project,” a nickel and copper sulfide mine on the Yellow Dog Plains, with one critical exception that could nix the project or at the very least require a major overhaul of the mining plan. Nonetheless, the petitioners in the case will likely appeal the portions of the permits not struck down or modified. Attorneys say the contested case record provides a remarkably strong basis for appeal. In his decision, Patterson recommended moving the mine’s portal, or entryway, from Eagle Rock, a sacred outcropping with spiritual importance to local Native American tribes.
See http://lakesuperiorminingnews.net/2009/08/19/616/.
Recent documents related to the Kennecott-Rio Tinto Eagle Mine project can be found at: http://lakesuperiorminingnews.net/reports/.
News of the Protect the Earth 2009 Gathering held in Michigan in early August can be found at http://lakesuperiorminingnews.net/2009/08/05/protect-the-earth-2009-part-1/ and http://lakesuperiorminingnews.net/2009/08/08/protect-the-earth-2009-part-2-walk-to-eagle-rock/. The second annual Great Lakes Community Gathering of people opposed to metallic sulfide and uranium mining in the Upper Peninsula and nearby Great Lakes states, offered workshops with expert speakers; musical entertainment; Native American dance, drumming and spiritual ceremonies; and a two-mile walk to Eagle Rock. This Native American sacred site is a proposed target of the “Eagle” Project, Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s potential metallic sulfide mine on the Yellow Dog Plains near Marquette.