Duluth newspaper covers the many risks of sulfide mining

Map of exploration activities in the Superior National Forest near the BWCAW

An article in yesterday’s Duluth News-Tribune dove into the issue of the extensive sulfide mining exploration being done in the Superior National Forest, right up to the very edges of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Reporter John Myers spoke to representatives of the exploration companies, Forest Supervisor Jim Sanders, and Friends policy director Betsy Daub for the article.

Betsy Daub, policy director for the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, notes that the rivers flowing through all of the prospective drilling areas flow into the BWCAW.

“These exploratory drilling sites pose their own impacts, with access roads and drilling pads and tree cutting, possible contamination of the water,” she said. “But the larger issue is the very real likelihood that, if even only a few of these sites turn into mines, we’ll see acid drainage into the wilderness.”

Read the whole article here »

Last week, Myers also covered sulfide mining, again quoting Betsy, in an article discussing the Friends’ recent research and reports about the ecological value of the PolyMet mine site (PDF).

“The biologists identified this land, as part of a larger area, as some of the best examples of habitat in those ecosystems,” said Betsy Daub, policy director for the group. “They may not have been officially designated, but they still have high value.”

The group estimates that removal of 1,000 acres of peat bog for the mine would increase Minnesota’s contribution of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2.7 million metric tons.

The beautiful Stony River, which could be polluted by both exploration activities and potential mines.

Friends staff also recently visited many of the areas where exploration is occurring or where mining companies have applied for exploration permits. It is a beautiful landscape of wild woods, lakes and rivers. Check out our photo gallery.

If you want to help ensure that sulfide mining doesn’t pollute the Boundary Waters, write a letter to the editor (letters@duluthnews.com) of the News-Tribune, or your local paper.