Battery acid in Lake Superior?

Aug. 10, 2005

Dear Readers: Over the past few months a major environmental battle has been shaping up in the western Upper Peninsula over the issue of metallic sulfide mining.
The fear is that mining for zinc, nickel, and copper found in sulfide ore will release hazardous sulfuric acid (similar to battery acid) into streams feeding the Great Lakes.
The connection for those of us who live in northwestern lower Michigan is the threat of major pollution to the Great Lakes, specifically Lake Superior.
Following are some of the concerns expressed by Northwoods Wilderness Recovery, an environmental group based in Marquette. For more information, see their website at www.northwoodswild.org -- ed.)


Metallic Sulfide Mining
in Michigan‘s U.P.

The State of Michigan, federal government, and large and small mineral rights owners have been leasing their rights to private mineral exploration companies for decades. But over the past 10 years or so, the pace of leasing has picked up, in anticipation of Michigan opening up a new metallic sulfide mining district in the Upper Peninsula.
Instability of third world mining, and the desire of industry to establish new domestic sources, make the discoveries of zinc, nickel, and copper ore deposits especially important. Potential mining and the widespread exploration of minerals, pose a clear threat to the environment, economy, and community of the Upper Peninsula.

Environment
• Unlike our iron mining heritage, metallic sulfide mining takes place in sulfide ore.
• The risk of creating sulfuric acid (battery acid) is high when removing the metals from this type of ore.
• Sulfuric acid is created when water and air chemically combine with exposed sulfides in the rock.
• Acids seep through the rock much the same way water seeps through coffee, creating a brew of toxic heavy metals (called Acid Mine Drainage, or AMD).
• AMD can drain into nearby rivers and seep into the groundwater - killing fish, plants, and wildlife and contaminating local drinking water.

Economy
• The Yellow Dog ore body may be worth $2.8 billion. 90% of the profits will leave Michigan.
• The proposed mine will only create temporary jobs (five to seven years), and a large number of them may not go to U.P. residents.
• Tourism has brought over 1,400,000 people to Marquette County yearly, bringing more than $77,000,000 to the local economy. Many of these people come to enjoy our beautiful outdoors and are directly responsible for 1,600 jobs.
• Studies show that the vast majority of mining communities, especially in the Great Lakes region, have worsened income, unemployment rates, and poverty when a mine closes.

Community
• Metallic sulfide mines will require massive development of infrastructure, destroying the rural and wild nature of the UP.
• Mining will require processing areas, tailing ponds, electric power grids to supply the power needed for mining, paved roads replacing gravel and dirt roads, and rail lines where there were none before.
• Fences and no trespassing signs will replace public access.

Kennecott and the Yellow Dog Plains
Kennecott Minerals Corporation is planning an underground metallic sulfide mining project on the Yellow Dog Plains (near Big Bay, MI) called The Eagle Project. Exploration has identified several minerals, including nickel, zinc and other metals. This proposed mine would be operated near the headwaters of two important rivers - the Salmon Trout and the Yellow Dog.
The proposed Yellow Dog Mine endangers many important areas and resources of the Upper Peninsula: The McCormick Tract, Huron Mountains, Pinnacle Falls, Lake Independence, and, most importantly, Lake Superior.
Kennecott’s environmental track record is poor. Their Greens Creek Mine in Alaska has violated the Clean Water Act on 391 occasions. During operation the discharge from Wisconsin’s Flambeau Mine far exceeded groundwater standards.

Back Forty Project
This prospective mine is owned by Mineral Processing Corporation, and found east of the town of Stephenson, MI, near the Menominee River and Shakey Lakes. It is within an important ecological area, the Shakey Lakes Savanna, which is known for its rare, endangered, and unusual plants. These lands are steeped in Native American history, and known to contain important remnants of past Indian settlement, that date back to prehistoric times.

Legislation
In December of 2004 Public Act 449, which creates regulations governing metallic sulfide mining, was signed by Jennifer Granholm. Laws will be inadequate to stop pollution and the degradation of anywhere sulfide mining may take place; permits are only a license to pollute.