BWCA mining?

[Zelmsdawg]

If it were up to me, at least 50% of the total landmass in the lower 48. We could also do with a couple hundred million fewer people in this country.

I get depressed when I realize there isn't too much I can do about changing those numbers, but I do what I can.

I pretty much agree with you. Makes me sad everytime I think about the direction society is headed. Theres too much focus on short term results without much if any thought given to long term effects. Sigh. Sometimes I wish I would have been born earlier

[mallardnwalleye]

How many tens of millions of state and federal acres do we need in this country?

If it were up to me, at least 50% of the total landmass in the lower 48. We could also do with a couple hundred million fewer people in this country.

I get depressed when I realize there isn't too much I can do about changing those numbers, but I do what I can.

Canada is taking people and has your population ratio. Buy some land in Sask. live on it over 6 months a year for 5 years I think and you're in.

[mallardnwalleye]

Here is an interesting article discussing sulfites and Mercury bio availability in lakes, fish and humans.

Mercury Fish Sulfites

[Getanet]

If it were up to me, at least 50% of the total landmass in the lower 48. We could also do with a couple hundred million fewer people in this country.

I get depressed when I realize there isn't too much I can do about changing those numbers, but I do what I can.

Curious what you're doing to lower the population in this country? You don't have a pile of bones in your backyard...gulp...do you?

[James_R]

I get a little nervous when I see people here talking about our spacious country having too many people and too much private ownership of property. History is full of despots who shared those same beliefs.

[Stick in Mud]

I get a little nervous when I see people here talking about our spacious country having too many people and too much private ownership of property. History is full of despots who shared those same beliefs.

LOL.

[Sota2Florida]

I will take a guess that people driving up from the cities do more damage to the BWCA (Ely liberals included) by auto pollution etc. than this mine will ever do.

These are union jobs, in America, in an area that needs them.

I hope we don't go the way of California and worry more about frogs and mosquitos than making safe and logical business decisions. mallardnwalleye summed it up.

[Timber]

"making safe and logical business decisions"

And therein lies the problem. Let me repeat: No mine of this type, anywhere is the world, has not done environmental damage. Not one. Anywhere. Yet you blindly believe that this time it's going to different. In twenty years, when the mining is done, and all the foreign companies that ran them are gone, we'll be left with the ruin and destruction. Left to pay for the clean-up if it's even possible. Ruined for eternity for twenty years of jobs.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Timber gets it! Exactly the short sighted thought process that will lead to the destruction of the Kawishiwi water shed, if not worse!

[Stick in Mud]

"making safe and logical business decisions"

And therein lies the problem. Let me repeat: No mine of this type, anywhere is the world, has not done environmental damage. Not one. Anywhere. Yet you blindly believe that this time it's going to different. In twenty years, when the mining is done, and all the foreign companies that ran them are gone, we'll be left with the ruin and destruction. Left to pay for the clean-up if it's even possible. Ruined for eternity for twenty years of jobs.

I dunno....you guys sound a little fascist to me....sure, you may want to protect the watershed now, but it's a slippery slope from there to a genocide.

[James_R]

Ah yes, all of the mining activity from years past near the Ely area has turned the entire region into a toxic wasteland unfit for human habitation. Who do you guys think you're fooling here?

[Tom7227]

Then there are stories like this:

http://www.startribune.com/local/160962115.html

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Ah yes, all of the mining activity from years past near the Ely area has turned the entire region into a toxic wasteland unfit for human habitation. Who do you guys think you're fooling here?

Clearly you don't have a clue of the differences between iron ore and sulfide mining.... You you foolin'?

[James_R]

No but I'm sure you'll paint us all a lovely apocalyptic picture complete with corporate fat cat robber barons, smoldering craters and an overwhelmed EPA in desperate need of more power and funding.

[itchmesir]

Then there are stories like this:

http://www.startribune.com/local/160962115.html

No worries.. the study is being funded by a mining company..

[Finns]

No worries.. the study is being funded by a mining company..

Who paid for this? http://environmentminnesota.org/

[delcecchi]

Gee, Taconite has sulfide too, along with other bad stuff.

http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/view-document.html?gid=2236

And recall the Mintac plant with the leaking pond and sulfate. (Sulfide turns into Sulfate in presence of air)

[Leaky]

Points to Ponder:

This is the one of the biggest deposits of these minerals in the world.

The State of MN has in place some the most stringent environmental policies in the world. If the mining companies can't meet them, this won't happen. They will also be required to put up front a boatload of money just in case.

The sulfite mining technologies, like all technologies, have changed drastically in the last 20 - 30 years. The environmental groups will always say this can't be done safely because of things that have happened in the past. My guess is if Thomas Edison were alive today, he would have had to spend 20 years of environmental study to conclude that it's OK to produce electricity.

The same crowd who doesn't want this also doesn't want any trees knocked down in the area and replanted. Yet the hypocrits have no problem living in wood framed houses. I'd say throw your computer, TV and cell phone away if you really believe that we as a society don't need what's sitting there.

Oh and a byproduct of all this is that the Iron Range, it's schools, hospitals ect can once again sustain itself. Having grown up in Ely during the 60s & 70s, it's a phenominal place to raise children and enjoy the great outdoors. Unless you sell trinkets on main street or provide outfitting services to all the people from the Cities, Chicago & beyond, thats pretty hard to do today. Of course the naysayers will have you believe we won't have a great outdoors if this happens.

I could care less if mining companies get rich off of this. Henry Ford deserved every dollar he made and every dollar his employees made. What the heck has happened to our country?

I feel like I just drove directly into Silly Town.

[Down Deep]

I don't have a problem with mining if it can be done without impacting our water. But the companies that use sulfate mining cannot do it without irreversibly polluting the water. This pollution is not just localized, but can range 100 miles downstream. Go to the MPCA HSOforum and look at the maps that are published. If the mine owners were so confident in their process of controlling the sulfates, then why do they want the MN Legislature to pass a law bypassing the standards set by the "Clean Water Act" to the caveat of "best technology available". What happens if the best technology causes dead lakes after several years? This is a question that the mining companies and the Range legislators will not answer.

[DTro]

I totally agree with Leaky. Mining is what made the Iron Range and lately its a totally different place then where I grew up 30 years ago. Tourism can sustain the area, but that is about it. I bet less than 10% of those that are raised there stay there.

[Leaky]

Quote:

But the companies that use sulfate mining cannot do it without irreversibly polluting the water.

How do you know this to be a fact? Sounds like something that came directly from the "Friends" HSOforum. And if this is a fact, why are the companies spending millions on impact studies that have to pass the muster of the state?

Where can I read about the mining companies trying to bypass the Clean Water Act? I'd be really interested to see what that is all about.

[reinhard1]

dont know much about sulfite mining but what about those abandoned old mine pits that now have trout and other fish in them. seems like they are doing fine. good luck.

[Leaky]

The water in those pits is the clearest water around. Scuba divers love it. You can see those trout from a long ways away.

[Tom7227]

http://www.startribune.com/local/151212935.html

[Leaky]

Thank you! It sounds as if the right decision was made to ensure that standards are met. I really want to see these mining projects work on so many levels, but not at the expense of the lakes I grew up fishing and swimming in.