Essar SEIS determined adequate

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Essar SEIS determined adequate
(Released January 10, 2012)

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced on Jan. 9 in the EQB Monitor that the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on the proposed Essar Steel Minnesota Modifications Project is adequate. Now that the SEIS process is complete, final permit decisions can made by local and state regulatory agencies.
This was the first EIS completed by the DNR since the Governor’s 2011 Executive Order on environmental review, and related legislation, both of which essentially required permit evaluation to occur concurrently with environmental review. The timely completion of environmental review along with permitting evaluation is intended to enable faster permit decisions and to shorten the amount of time it takes to begin construction.

In keeping with the governor’s goals to streamline environmental review and permitting, the DNR implemented several measures to ensure timely completion of the SEIS, resulting in an adequacy determination made before the end of the calendar year.

DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said, “We worked very closely with Essar and other stakeholders to ensure we developed an SEIS that thoroughly evaluated environmental impacts. Plus, we are pleased that we were able to do so in a timely way that will allow permit decisions to be made more quickly on this important project.”

The proposed project, located near the city of Nashwauk in Itasca County, would increase the production of taconite pellets from 3.8 million metric tons per year (mmtpy) of low flux taconite pellets to 6.5 mmtpy of high flux pellets or 7.0 mmtpy of low flux taconite pellets. Essar is also proposing to decrease the length of the mine plan time period from 20 years to 15. The project represents a $300 million investment by the company.

The Dec. 29 decision comes at the end of a review process that began in the spring of 2010.

A determination that the Final SEIS is adequate means the document describes potentially significant issues, provides responses to public comments, and was prepared in compliance with applicable rules. State permits may now be issued for the proposed project if it complies with state regulations. At full operation, the project is anticipated to provide 500 jobs.