Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company, an mining international company located in Salt Lake City and a subsidiary of Rio Tinto of London, England, applied Tuesday for the first mining permits under Michigan’s recently passed sulfide mining regulations. The permits are being sought by Kennecott for a mining endeavor called the Eagle Project in the Upper Peninsula’s (UP) Yellow Dog Plains near Big Bay, Michigan near the headwaters of two important rivers, the Salmon Trout and the Yellow Dog. Kennecott applied for a total of three permits for drilling, ground water removal, and diesel emissions and Michigan’s Department of Environmental Equality (DEQ) has 210 days to rule on the permit during which time one public hearing will be held on the issue.

The type of mining that Kennecott wants to conduct, metallic sulfide mining, differs substantially from the iron mining that occurs at other mines in the UP and has not previously been done in the UP. In order to obtain these sulfides, the company will mine ores, that, when they come in contact with air and water, start an anti-oxidizing process that creates sulfuric acid, other potentially toxic dissolved metals, and acid mine drainage (a term referring to the outflow of acidic water from mines). Consequently, all waters from a sulfide mining operation must be contained in lined holding pits and must be treated before being reintroduced to the environment. The pits run the risk of overflowing and flooding which then results in the introduction of acid mine drainage into surface waters and the underground aquifers. Kennecott has had problems with other mines it runs and acid mine drainage, most notably with its Green’s Creek Mine in Juneau, Alaska and the Flambeau Mine in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. According to research conducted by the Eagle Alliance, Kennecott tops the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of corporations with the highest toxic release in the United States.

Due to the possibility of pollution from the proposed mine, several groups in the UP have organized in opposition to the mining project, including the Eagle Alliance, Save the Wild UP, and Northwoods Wilderness Recovery. While obviously focusing on the environmental impacts, the groups have also been organizing around the Michigan DEQ’s failure to enforce regulations as well as around labor issues, both in terms how many jobs might be provided by the mining project as well as Kennecott’s parent company’s dismal labor relations record (Kennecott has actively tried to prevent unions from forming in its mines). Activists have been quick to point out that while the project will create between one-hundred and two-hundred jobs, the jobs will be of temporary nature, lasting an expected five to seven years. Moreover, if one looks at Kennecott’s Flambeau Mine in Wisconsin, a mine that is roughly the same size as the one proposed for the UP, only 20 to 25% of the employees were local with the majority coming from outside the state. Similarly, while the mine may bring up to $100 million in investment, the ore body may be worth up to $2.8 billion and 90% of the profits will leave Michigan.

While the new sulfide mining laws are “probably…the strictest in the nation” according to spokesperson Bob McCann of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, many residents of the Upper Peninsula and environmental activists are raising concerns that the new project will result in irreversible environmental harm, the full extent of which may be unknown to the public until after the mine is closed. Activists have pointed out that the sulfide mining regulations do not identify places where mining is inappropriate, for example those where erosion, landslides, and water pollution cannot be prevented, nor do they require companies to provide examples of other mines they have operated without harming the environment. There are also questions of transparency, as a confidentiality clause in contracts between the State of Michigan and lessee corporations makes it so that companies such as Kennecott are not required to reveal exactly what they are looking for, although they have publicly stated that they are hoping to mine nickel, copper, gold, zinc, and other base minerals. The US Geological Survey has identified the Lake Superior region as having great potential for Nickel and Copper Sulfide deposits, and as a result, activist groups are raising concerns that the UP may see a significant increase in mining and are citing the fact that in the last similar mining upsurge in the western United States, 40% of the groundwater became polluted by mining. Additionally, the infrastructure needed to support the mining project will require the construction of paved roads in previously unpaved areas, power grid expansions, and railroad expansion.

Already Kennecott owns 462,000 acres of mineral rights in the Upper Penninsula in Marquette and Baraga counties and leases an additional 4,200 acres from the state of Michigan and 5,500 from private mineral owners. Much of the land where Kenecott has mineral rights are located in the Ottawa and National Forest and the Escanaba River State Forest.

Save the Wild UP has prepared a number of action ideas for those interested in working on the issue and are encouraging people to contact their legislators and Governor Granholm.