Proposed Taconite Mine in the Penokee Range
The company Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) purchased the mineral rights for a vast area in northwestern Wisconsin-- 21,000 acres along 22 miles of the beautiful Penokee Range in Ashland and Iron Counties. In 2011, GTAC proposed to build what could become the largest open-pit iron-ore mine in the world (4 1/2 miles long, 1.5 miles wide and up 1,000 feet deep) to extract taconite, a type of low-grade iron ore. Although they claimed to have no interest in circumventing Wisconsin's safe-guard mining laws, they ended up working behind the scenes for months to gut the same mining laws that they supposedly were not interested in changing. AB 426 demolished environmental safeguards related to mining, eliminated public input, reduced revenues to local communities, and rushed the permit review process.
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After the bill failed to pass through the Senate, Gogebic Tactonite withdrew its mining request with the Wisconsin DNR in March of 2012.
After Governor Walker's 2013 State-of-the-State address AB 426 was resurrected and a 'new' mining bill, AB 1 / SB 1, was proposed on January 9. It's virtually identical to the failed bill. Unfortunately, this bill is just as destructive at AB426. Click here to see the Legislative Council memo about the new bill.
Unfortunately, this bill was fast-tracked and passed the Senate on February 27 with at 17-16 vote and the Assembly on March 7 on a party-line vote. Governor Walker signed the bill on March 11. Make sure to contact your legislators and show them your gratitude/disappointment over their vote! This horrendous bill passed, but we plan to continue to fight the mine every step of the way!
The Mining Site:
The proposed mine site was in the Penokee Range, in the heart of Wisconsin's North Woods and the Bad River Watershed. It was near one of the most beautiful and environmentally sensitive parts of Wisconsin, the Copper Falls State Park on the shores of Lake Superior .
The Penokee Range is 25 miles of elevated land that is home to hardwood forest, rivers and streams, wetlands, and two lakes. The land provides crucial habitat to wolves, bald eagles, songbirds, rare plants, and countless other animals that rely on the forested community.
The area is also critical for clean water resources. Over 200 inches of snow each year provides fresh clean water that supports the Bad River Watershed and Lake Superior. The Kakagon and Bad River coastal wetland complex on Lake Superior are known as "Wisconsin's Everglades" The Kakagon slough was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1973. This area is critical to the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa for wild rice production.
Large-scale taconite mining would have threatened local communities' air and water. The area's surface and groundwater provides drinking water for the cities of Ashland, Mellen, Highbridge, Marengo, Odanah and Upson, and we could not risk polluting these vital water resources and endangering the health of the citizens in these cities. Tourism would also have been threatened by the destruction of the forest and aquatic habitats that are home to important and vulnerable birds and other susceptible wildlife species.
Taconite Mining:
While researching the environmental records of various Taconite mines, the Sierra Club found that all 10 of the operating taconite mines in Michigan and Minnesota had serious, air and water violations. A survey of compliance records from 2004-2012 showed that modern taconite mines were chronic polluters that incurred fines and stipulations of over $10 million.
With contaminants such as mercury, arsenic, and other heavy metals, sulfates, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides being released from mining tailings' waste dust, waste rock, ore transportation and ore processing, the air and water quality in northern Wisconsin could have been seriously polluted. Mining companies in Minnesota have faced serious issues with getting rid of the waste water from taconite mining plants. However, attempting to release recycled waste water into waterways around mining facilities can cause many problems for the surrounding aquatic environments. For example, increased Mercury levels in waste water can bioaccumulate in fish populations, and thus, endanger consumers who eat the fish. Waste water can also increase the temperature of the aquatic ecosystem, and this can cause problems for the animals that rely on these waterways. Not to mention, tailings and sediments in waste water also pollute waterways.
A Minnesota DNR report in 2003 found that taconite mining was the 2nd largest source of Mercury emissions after coal power plants. A taconite mine in Wisconsin would have been a new source of Mercury that would have further contaminated and poisoned our fish and wildlife. Considering that our waterways are already under advisories against consuming mercury contaminated fish, another source of Mercury pollution was something Wisconsin did not need.
Health Concerns: There are serious suspicions that taconite mining can lead to mesothelioma, a rare cancer that forms in the outer lining of the lungs linked to asbestos exposure. Since 2003, 52 cases of mesothelioma development in miners and their family members have been diagnosed. Although at least 13 were the result of asbestos product exposure, with only 3,000 cases diagnosed annually, those levels are extremely high. According to the University of Minnesota, the rate of mesothelioma is 70% higher in northern Minnesota than the rest of the country. The Minnesota Legislature committed millions of dollars to a University of Minnesota study of hundreds of miners and their spouses and thousands of death certificates for taconite workers to research the connection between taconite dust and mesothelioma. Dr. Jeff Mandel of the University of Minnesota said, "We wouldn't be up here if we didn't think there was a pretty good chance at a link."
Click here for more information on the Minnesota Taconite Workers Health Study:
http://www.sph.umn.edu/research/highlights/taconite/
Click here for a media release on the 2010 annual report on the study to the MN legislature:
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/Study-Update-Shows-Increase-In-Mesothelioma-Cases-117214413.html
Economic Concerns: Proponents of taconite mining didn't address the 
risks to tourism and the environment that mining would cause, and instead, they talked about the promise of job creation. When we looked to Minnesota and Michigan's taconite mines as case studies, it was easy to see a mining economy resulted in a 'boom and bust' economy. The steel industry has inconsistent market demand and mines have been permanently or temporarily shut down during soft market times. In 2008, two taconite mines temporarily laid off hundreds of employees for months until demand increased again and they hired them back. Unfortunately, these lay-offs are back. In November, a mining company in Minnesota and Michigan laid off 625 workers.
Cline Mining Group:
Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) is owned by Cline Resource and Development Group. When we looked at GTAC's track record, we found they had never mined taconite before. Instead, they operated coal mines in Illinois, and other mines in West Virginia. Cline had been cited 25 times for violating water quality standards at 4 mines. GATC's Deer Run Mine, which opened only 3 years ago, had already been cited 19 times for violations.
Longwall mining removes the entire coal seam. The mines use hydraulic supports to hold the roof up, which are moved as the operation advances, causing the roof behind it to collapse. The practice is so destructive it is known to 'sink' the land. Click here to see a video depicting this awful practice. We could not risk the Penokee area being damaged in a similar way.
Aside from destroying land, there were a number of safety concerns with Cline Mining Group as well. In 2002, near Wharton, West Virginia, Cline's best friend, Sidney Green, was killed when the roof collapsed in one of Cline's mines as he was moving a machine. Cline was fined $45,500 and in 2005 settled with Green's widow, Lorraine. If he couldn't keep the mine safe for his best friend, how could we be assured it will be safe for our friends and family in Ashland?
It was all just a big game to owner Chris Cline. While we were seriously concerned about his mining ventures destroying our beautiful lands, endangering the lives of our workers and surrounding community members, and pollution from mining dirtying our clean air and water, we found that Chris Cline was living in a 33,000 square-foot house (pictured right) and enjoyed taking his investors on his 164-foot-long yacht named, 'Mine Games'. Wisconsin simply couldn't risk being a pawn in this sort of "game."
Volunteer with the Sierra Club! Call (608) 256-0565 or e-mail elizabeth.ward@sierraclub.org to get involved!
Links to more information:
Sierra Club's AB 426 Background Briefing Paper
Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission - Iron Mining in the Lake Superior Basin, 2011 Report
Bad River Watershed Association - mining page
Penokee Hills Education Project
For more information about mining in Wisconsin, click here.