Concerns are being expressed about two proposed mines – and perhaps many others – that would be developed in northern Minnesota and cause harm to Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The mines would extract copper, nickel and other metals from sulfide ore.
Boundary Waters is located on the Canada-U.S. border. Along with Voyageurs National Park to the west and the Canadian Quetico and La Verendrye Provincial Parks to the north, they make up a large area of contiguous wilderness lakes and forests called Quetico-Superior country. Lake Superior is situated to the east of Boundary Waters.
PolyMet Mining Corp. is proposing the NorthMet open-pit mine that would be located near the Embarrass and Partridge Rivers, which flow into the St. Louis River and then Lake Superior. The mine would be located in the Superior National Forest in an area that has never been mined. And Twin Metals (a Canadian-Chilean joint venture) is proposing an underground mine located near Birch Lake, just a few kilometres from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
This type of mining can pollute drinking water.
Friends of Boundary Waters Wilderness explains, “In states like Montana, New Mexico, and Nevada, sulfide mining has contaminated thousands of streams and devastated entire ecosystems. …When rain falls on the waste from iron mining, it makes rust; when rain falls on sulfide ore waste, sulfuric acid is produced. Sulfuric acid leaches out metals and chemicals from the waste and creates acid mine drainage which: contaminates lakes, rivers, and groundwater and harms human health, fish, wildlife, and damages entire ecosystems.”
We agree with Environment Minnesota and others who state that, “The Boundary Waters are too important to put at risk of this dangerous mining pollution. We can protect this Minnesota treasure by not allowing toxic sulfide mines near the Boundary Waters…”
Dave and Amy Freeman are paddling in a canoe from Ely, Minnesota to Washington, DC to present a canoe signed by opponents of sulfide mining to the White House. Ottawa-area activists will be joining them today as they paddle the Ottawa River.
Further reading
Sulfide Mining in Minnesota/ Mining Truth
Sulfide Mining/ Friends of Boundary Waters Wilderness
Save the Boundary Waters/ Environment Minnesota
Save the Boundary Waters/ A Quest for Clean Water
Save the BWCA/ Twitter
