Da sky's falling again!

[Lee Borgersen]

 'America's Most Endangered Rivers' lists 2 in Minnesota

 Apr 10, 2018 .

  ......
DULUTH—The Kawishiwi River near Ely, Minn., which flows out of and then back into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on its way north, has again made a list of "most endangered" rivers in the U.S.

The environmental advocacy group American Rivers said the Kawishiwi faces imminent peril from the proposed Twin Metals copper mine, which would be located along the river, just outside the federal wilderness. And.. "da sky is falling also!" 

more ...
American Rivers listed the Kawishiwi as third on its list of the 10 most endangered rivers. All 10 face major government decisions in coming months and years that could decide their fate, the group said.

They say the massive underground mine can produce valuable copper, nickel and other metals and still protect the region's waterways while providing hundreds of jobs. But Da Loon critics say the potential of tainted mine runoff from copper-bearing sulfide rock poses too great a danger of flowing into the BWCAW.

The Obama administration effectively stalled the proposed mine by withholding mineral leases in the Superior National Forest and calling for a study of copper mining in the area and a possible 20-year moratorium on all mining near the BWCAW. The Trump administration is working to release those restrictions and allow the project to advance into formal environmental review.

The group said the Trump administration is taking similar action across the U.S.

"In our many years of issuing the America's Most Endangered Rivers report, we've seldom seen a collection of threats this severe, or an administration so bent on undermining and reversing protections for clean water, rivers and public health," said Bob Irvin, president of American Rivers, in a statement.

The Kawishiwi was American Rivers' sixth-most endangered river in 2013 for the same reasons. In 2015 the group named the St. Louis River to the most endangered list because of the proposed PolyMet copper mine and potential for tainted runoff.

Also on the most endangered list this year, at sixth-most endangered, is a portion of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, from St. Anthony Falls to the Minnesota River, because of dams that block its free-flow. The Kinnickinnic River in west-central Wisconsin is listed at No. 10 on the list, also because of dams.

Let's not forget
The Big Sunflower River in Mississippi, "threatened by revival of the Army Corps of Engineers  Yazoo Pumps project that would drain critical wetlands at enormous taxpayer expense," was the group's most-endangered river for 2018, followed by multiple rivers in Alaska's Bristol Bay region that would be threatened by what would be the world's largest open-pit mine. The group said pollution from the mine threatens the bay's $1.5 billion annual salmon fishery.
  (help us!)  .... (OMG!)

Two paddlers make their way down the Kawishiwi River near Ely. The group American Rivers has again named the Kawishiwi one of the 10 most endangered rivers in the U.S. because of the potential  of polluted mine waste from the proposed Twin Metals copper mine. Forum News Service file photo

       



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[greatoutdoors]

When you listen to the hard core environmentalists (several are from, or live in Ely) you are told that the Kawishiwi River and almost all waters in the BWCA to Hudson Bay are in grave danger of being polluted for 500 years by a Mine that does not exist!   
How the hell does that work????     

[delcecchi]

Check out the great job the taconite mines are doing making their tailing ponds comply with their permits.......

quote
The 13-square-mile Minntac tailings basin has been operating under a permit that expired in 1992. It’s become the leading example of what MCEA and other environmental groups say is the state’s light regulatory touch on the taconite industry. At least 15 taconite operations are under expired permits that have not been updated to comply with newer standards to protect water, wildlife and wild rice. But Minntac’s is the oldest.

U.S. Steel has taken steps to collect tainted water and monitor pollutants at the site, and the MPCA has been developing a new permit for years. However, the company has failed to comply with agreements to install water treatment systems or other technologies that would reduce pollution in the basin. Corporate executives testified at the state Legislature in 2015 that complying with state environmental standards could result in job losses.

[Rebel SS]

https://www.pca.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/wq-wwprm1-28.pdf

[Lee Borgersen]

 At present, MPCA lacks sufficient data to predict a date by which final limits in surface waters can be met.

  Did someone say  "MPCA lacks sufficient data"

 
The time it takes pollutants to travel from the basin to various surface water bodies varies from months to decades, 
and there is not currently enough information on all the possible flow paths or mitigation that will be needed to
predict when final compliance limits will be met in surface water

compliance dates in a future permit after evaluating the movement of pollutants in groundwater.
Regulating under state law gives the flexibility to address these complexities.

Wild rice

Recent legislation prevents permittees from being required to spend money on sulfate treatment until MPCA
completes rulemaking on the sulfate standard that protects wild rice. If rulemaking designates any water body
impacted by the tailings basin as a water to which the wild rice beneficial use applies, the permit requires U.S.
Steel to submit an application for permit modification to set sulfate limits protective of wild rice, if needed.
The legislation does allow for sulfate minimization plans in permits. The draft permit requires specific actions be
taken to decrease sulfate concentrations in groundwater that will lead to at least as much reduction in
downstream lakes and streams as a minimization plan.

[glenn57]

When you listen to the hard core environmentalists (several are from, or live in Ely) you are told that the Kawishiwi River and almost all waters in the BWCA to Hudson Bay are in grave danger of being polluted for 500 years by a Mine that does not exist!   
How the hell does that work????     

GTO the tree huggers have crystal balls!!!!!!!!!

this mining topic is near and dear to our Union, we work in the Minntac, keetac etc mines. along with poly met, and one of the shops i represent does pot pile of work for the mining industry. lets just say i hear a good amount of info on this........and its not if this is going to go, its a matter of when!!!!!

[LPS]

MPCA is as dysfunctional as Congress.  They can not get anything done.  Our local landfill is operating with an expired permit.  They have jumped through all of the hoops and still hasn't been approved.  I think they said 38 of the 39 landfills in the state can't get their permits updated due to MPCA's lack of responsibility.  It is an agency of people that are being paid by us taxpayers and they actually do almost nothing.