8/4/2019 Northeastern Minnesota Sulfide Mining Informational Meeting - Oct 9th 2011

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METALLIC ULFIDEMINING N NORTHEASTERNINNESOTAAn information meeting for StonyRiver Township

Yourneighborshaveorganized n informationmeeting or residentsand privatepropertyownersofstonyRiverTownshipo learnabout he effectsmetallic ulfide miningwouldhaveon our obs,ourprop-erty,our landandour water n StonyRiverTownship nd hroughoufnortheasternMinnesota.

JOINYOURNEIGHBORSTOEARNMOREABOUTPLANSFORMETALLICSULFIDE ININGN STONYRIVERTOWNSHIP ND THE MPACTT WOULDHAVEONALt OFUS.

Metallicsulfidemining,alsoknown as copper-nickel, ard rock,or metallicmineralsmining,extractscoppel nickel, old,platinum,palladiumand other non-ferrousfnon-ironJmetals rom sulfideores,Presently,hereareno examplesn the world of a metallicsulfidemine hat hasnot pollutedsurfaceorgroundwaterwith Acid MineDrainage. hese ncludemetallic ulfidemines n Wisconsin,Michigan,SouthDakota, olorado, ndMontana swell ascanada ndothercountries. herehasneverbeenametallic ulfidemine n Minnesota,lthough olyMet asproposed metallic ulfidemine n HoytLakesthat is under eview, nd otherminingcompanies ave ulfide minesplanned. he stateof Minnesotaand he Federal overnment ave old ong-termmineral eases

[up o 50yearsJ n arge ractsof publicandprivate ands n northeasternMinnesota ndarecurrently ntensiryinghis effort.

PLEASE LANTOATTENDTHIS MPORTANT VENT!

Sunday, ctober th,Z\L'J.rom 5:30_7:30p.m.Isabella ommunity enter*

9521Lankinen d.,sabella, N5S607

Moderator Welcome& Introduction' NancySchultz, usiness wner& resident, tonyRiverTownship

Presentations"What

is Metallic SulfideMining?,,"fobs:Waking Up to the Realitiesof a Metallic SulfideMining Economy orNortheastern Minnesota,,

. BobTammen,Retiredmineworker"whatwill Be our Legacyn Northeastern Minnesota?,,

' FrankMoe,Businesswnerand esident f cookcounty.Member f heMinnesotaHouse f RepresentativesO0S_200}"MetallicSulfideMining's Recordof Credibility and Accountability,,

. MarcFink,Attorney,Center or BiologicalDiversity'Aquaticsystemsand Drinking water: what Are the Impacts...whatAre the Risks?,,

' Bruce ohnson, nvironmental cientistwith 34 yearsexperiencein federalandstateagencies

Audienceeuestions. PanelDiscussion

StonyRiverTownshiphasaVoice...anda Choice.. NancySchultz

*Directions:From mapcenter" f the ownof Isabella,ravel/zmilenorthon Hwy 1and urn rightonto he

LankinenRd.Turnat he irst eft,onto heCommunityCenterdriveway.

8/4/2019 Northeastern Minnesota Sulfide Mining Informational Meeting - Oct 9th 2011

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Information on Metallic Sulfide Mining in Minnesota*

. Metallic sulfide mining refers to hardroik mining for metals in sulfur-bearing rock, as differentiate

from coal, ron ore, or gravel extraction. Metallic sulfide mining is the practice of extracting metals

: a suifide ore body. In Minnesota, hese metals include copper and nickel with trace amounts of cob

plat inum,palladium, nd gold.

'

. When sulfide ore, waste rock, pit walls or the tailings are exposed o air and moisture, a chemical retion can create sulfuric acid. firon ores are in oxide, not sulfide, formations.) Wate4, n the form of r

snow runofl etc.,can causesulfuric acid compounds to dra in from the mine site -- called acid mine

drainage AMD).AMD can enter nearby surfacewater and groundwater resources nd, hereby,ha

people,plants,animals,metal and concretestructures.

. AMD also dissolves oxic heavymetals (e.g. ead,zinc, coppel and mercury), allowing them to ente

surfacewater and groundwater. Methyl mercury a well-known neurotoxin causingnerve and brain

damage, evelopmentaldisabilitiesand evenautism,would increase n the surrounding environm

collecting n fish tissue, t may take severalyears before AMD reaches oxic levels,and water conta

tion can hen last for centuries,or evenmillennia.

. There has never been a metallic sulfide mine that has not polluted water resourceswhere water wapresent.Nationally,AMD accounts or someof the largestand most expensiveSuperfundsites.AMD

very difficult to confine,canbe very expensive o cleanup and has costly mpacts on local commun

and tax payers.

. PolyMet s the first to app ly for a permit to operatea metallic sulfide mine in Minnesota.The comp

proposes o dig a series of 3 open pits over about 20 years. t would alter water tevels n nearby riv

lakes, eservoirsand wetlands and affectwater quality.PolyMetwould store waste rock in pilesup

240 feethigh and in liquid taili ngs slurries requiring"perpetual

maintenance".After 5 yearsof pre

velopment, he mine plan still has not adequatelyproven he safetyof pollution controls and waste

posalsystems.According o the current plan,discharges o water near the sourceat the PolyMetpr

would exceed egal Maximum ContaminantLevels or arsenic,antimony,sulfuric acid compounds,

manganese, ickel and copper.

. Numerous nadequacies xist n the cumentstateof enforcement n mining regulation, ncludingp

mits exceeding ollution standards, ites operatingunder variances, nidentified and un-assesse

greasebarrels,decades f AMD violations rom the Dunka Pit [a 1,200 acre dled taconite mine pit

Birch Lake near Ely that extracted material from sulfur-bearing rock), and missing Total Maximum

Load ITMDL) of contaminantsdata or receivingwaters,

. The MinnesotaPollution Control Agency MPCA)hasclaimed hat it doesn'thave he funding to ad

. equately mplement the laws that assess nd protect wetlands and waters from the impacts of promining.

I . The metalsmining industry is a leader n the releaseof toxins.Mining and processingof ores can n

ducecontaminants nto the ai4 wate[ and soil of local communities.

;, . Minnesota can ead with legislation to prevent this pollution. Other states havepassedprotective l' lation only AFTER experiencing damage.

*Informatian adapted rom Minnesota's Waterlegacy web site. For more information s

http : /www.w aterl egaqt.org sulfide-mining)

8/4/2019 Northeastern Minnesota Sulfide Mining Informational Meeting - Oct 9th 2011

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What we know and don't know...

about activities related to metallic sulfide mining.Da you know,..

. who owns the mineral rights under your property?

. whether there s an activeor proposedmining lease or the minerals under your property?

. what mining companies an do on your land to prospect or and mine theseminerals?

Didyou knaw that.... according o the MinnesotaSeveredMineral Interest Law 0ast amended n 7994),private

mineral nterests orfeit to the State f the mineral nterest owner doesnot file r,vith he Statewithin oneyear after acquiring hese nterests?

. the United StatesForestServiceand the state of Minnesotaare ntensiflring he sellingof long-term leases o stateand federalmineral rights under public and private ands n northeasternMinnesota?

. the Departmentof Natural Resources ecentlysold 50-year eases o min eral rights underprivate ands,without notification of the surfaceproperty owners?

' o mining companieswith i nterests n metallic sulfide mining currently own large ractsof land

and mineral rights n Lake County?. mining companiesare ntensifying he purchaseof surfaceand mineral rights n StonyRiver

Township?o most of the lands n StonyRiverTownship are within LakeCounty'sForestRecreation FR )

ZoningDistrict,with clustersof private ands n the ResidentialRecreation RR )Zoning Dis-

trict, neither of which allow industrial activities?

. mining companies, ngaged n exploratorydrilling, are not required o follow Countyzoningregr"rlations?

. mining companies anwithdraw up to 10,000gallonsof water per day from a given ake, iveror stream or expl oratory drilling?

. exploratorydrilling for metallicmineralsoperates24 hours a day fweekendsan d holidays),and the noise rom the incessant rilling and truck traffic at all hours impactsgreaternum-bers of residents, landownersand visitors as heseactivitiesbecome ncreasinglywide-spreadacross he township?

On September 14, z01-, the Stony River Township Board of Supervisors unanimously passed aresolution related to exploratory drilling and proposed metallic sulfide mining in the region.We encourage you to sign the attached form to document your support of their actions andeither bring it to the informational meeting on October 9,2OII or mail itto 9926 National Forest

Lodge Rd,Isabella,MN 55607.

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