Bad River Opposes Penokee Mine, Chairman Says

The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians officially issued a position statement Wednesday in opposition to the proposed Gogebic Taconite, LLC mine that would, if approved, be located in the Gogebic-Penokee Range of Ashland and Iron counties.

Members of the tribal council of the Bad River Band met with Gov. Scott Walker Wednesday to discuss the band's opposition to the proposed mine.

“As promised, Governor Walker met with tribal leaders, listened to their thoughts on changing Wisconsin's mining related laws, and had a discussion with them about the process moving forward,” said Cullen Werwie, Walker's press secretary, in an email to the Ashland Current.

Mike Wiggins Jr., chairman of the Bad River Tribal Council, explained the tribe's opposition to the proposal in a news release.

“The Band opposes development of the proposed GTAC taconite iron mine in the Penokee Hills of Ashland and Iron Counties in Wisconsin, because it is clear, based on available geologic and environmental information, that such an open pit mine cannot be developed and operated using current mining technologies and practices without destroying the environmental quality, including the waters, wetlands, streams, rivers, air, lands and forests of the Bad River watershed, the Bad River Indian Reservation, and Lake Superior,” Wiggins said. “The Bad River watershed is a Wisconsin gem and pristine environmental resource, and the Band’s cultural identity and way of life is highly dependent upon maintaining the health and integrity of the watershed.”

The tribe says it is aware of legislative efforts to change Wisconsin’s metallic mining laws to distinguish between ferrous or iron mining and other metallic sulfide mining, to shorten the state’s permitting process, and otherwise change the permitting and regulatory process for new iron mines.

As such, the tribe views the process of changing state law as being distinct from the question of whether or not the proposed GTAC mine should be permitted, noted Wiggins.

“The Band’s position on proposed iron mining legislation is that such legislation should be based on sound science and sound legal principles,” said Wiggins. “The Band opposes the proposals that were included in LRB 2035, which was leaked to the public in early 2011, to streamline and weaken the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (“DNR”) permitting process.”

Wiggins said that any new proposals to change Wisconsin’s metallic mining laws should include at least 10 principles, which were presented to Walker by the tribe on Wednesday.

The 10 principles being proposed are:

• 1. The definition of iron mining should be clearly set forth to exclude any project proposal that has the potential to cause acid mine drainage.
• 2. The completeness of iron mining permit applications should be clearly defined and the burden of preparing and submitting a complete application should be entirely on the permit applicant.
• 3. The permitting time frame should be reasonable, flexible, and consistent with federal agency time frames. It should also provide sufficient time for the DNR, the public, federal agencies, and affected Indian tribes to fully review and participate in the permitting process.
• 4. Existing wetland protection standards should be maintained and the federal/state partnership in the environmental review process under state and federal law should not be jeopardized.
• 5. Federal Clean Water Act implementation by the DNR should be corrected and not weakened.
• 6. There should be contested case hearings to allow full participation by interested parties, including Indian tribes.
• 7. There should be no preemption of local control.
• 8. Citizen suits should be maintained to make sure permit provisions and legal restrictions on new mines will be enforced.
• 9. Consultation with Indian tribes by the DNR should be required as part of the permitting process.
• 10. Interested party financing should be provided for the contested case hearing process.

Detailed descriptions of the reasoning behind each of these principles is found in a document released by the Bad River Band on Wednesday, which is attached below.