Sulfide Mining In The BWCAW
The biggest issue that faces the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness today is the threat of sulfide mining. Most of the mineral is on the southern edge of the Boundary Waters. There are two companies who are planning on mining on the border of the BWCAW. Around the clock drilling is going to cause noise problems for people who live there. If these mines get approved then they would be near lakes and rivers that flow into the BWCAW. Minnesota has a law that says that all mining clean up has to be done by the company causing the pollution. If the companies under estimate the environmental impacts the Boundary Waters could be completely ruined.
The first company is PolyMet Mining corp, a Canadian company that wants to mine in Minnesota. They are the farthest along in their plan. If they get approved they propose to use unproven techniques to mine “safely” in this protected area. Because they are a Canadian mining company the argument about how it will improve Minnesota’s economy is completely derailed. The money will not be going back to Minnesota’s economy. There plan is to have three open pit mines. The other company planning to mine is Twin Metals; their proposal is going to be three miles away from the BWCAW. Their proposal mine would be twice as big as the PolyMet project. It would extract about 40,000 tons of ore each day.
Mining companies also say that they will create jobs, but most of the jobs are already taken from people who are already trained. Yes the mines will create jobs but those jobs have already been given away and very few of them will be going to the people in the area. Only 25% of the permanent hirers will actually go to people in the surrounding communities. PolyMet stated that the company will have significant economic benefits and that the mine will create about 360 full time jobs. (PolyMet website 2012). Later they released The Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which reveals that 55% of the jobs will be non-locals and another 20% of the hires will be commuting from longer distant locations such as Duluth. The amount of jobs that they said the mining would produce has also been declining. In 2000 PolyMet predicted 460 jobs with a life span of 45 years. That has now fallen to 360 jobs. Which only 25% will be going to the locals.
The towns around this area are solely supported by the tourism. Instead of having beautiful forests, clean water for swimming and fishing, these tourists will be in he middle of an industrial area. People come to the boundary waters for peace and solitude and that is all in threat of a so-called century of mining. Twin metals mine would be directly into the BWCAW. Arguments saying that the economy of these small towns will improve are also very up in the air as well. Mining does not always bring prosperity. From a place that has a very successful diverse economy, they don’t need any help. Creating a specialized economy makes it much harder for it to grow. Specialized economy is an economy where they have just one main source of jobs and mining or oil.
Many people in Minnesota are not properly educated on sulfide mining. The Boundary Waters is one of the last wilderness areas that we have. These mines threaten the destroy something very important to a lot of people around America and the world. Money and greed drives these companies to take something very important away from 200,000 people, and from the generations to come. Minnesota should be informed on the risks, and what is being proposed, so we can then decide on whether or not this is good for our state. So the question remains, is this precious medal worth this much, then is our environment worse less than that? "This is the most beautiful lake country on the continent. We can afford to cherish and protect it."
Friends of The Boundary Waters . (2014, April 30). Sulfide Mining . In Friends of The Boundary Waters Wilderness . Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http://www.friends-bwca.org/issues/sulfide-mining/
Mining Truth . (n.d.). Sulfide Mining In Minnesota . In Mining Truth . Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http://www.miningtruth.org/sulfide-mining-minnesota/#.U2fLroXPcqQ
Mining Truth . (n.d.). Will Sulfide Mines Bring Employment and Economic Benefits to Northern Minnesota. In Mining Truth . Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http://www.miningtruth.org/sulfide-mining-minnesota/#.U2fLroXPcqQ
Mining Truth . (n.d.). How Corporations Evade Liability for Pollution at Closed Mines. In Mining Truth . Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http://www.miningtruth.org/sulfide-mining-minnesota/#.U2fLroXPcqQ
