Twin Metals

TRUMP’S REELECTION AND A NEW CALL TO PROTECT THE BWCA

This is not the time to sugarcoat anything.

The threat a second Trump presidency poses to the Boundary Waters is real. The new administration will soon begin to lay the legal and administrative groundwork that could lead to copper-sulfide mining at the edge of the Boundary Waters.

We have our work cut out for us, and we will need to use all our legal, policy, and technical resources to protect the Boundary Waters. Most of all, we will need you.

In particular, we are worried that the Trump administration will directly attack the Boundary Waters through taking these three actions:

• Reinstating Twin Metals’ mineral leases, giving the Chilean-owned mining company a path forward to opening its dangerous mine and permanently polluting the Boundary Waters.
• Reverse the current mining ban on some 225,000 acres of federal land next to the Boundary Waters and open it to sulfide mining.
• Representative Pete Stauber will introduce federal legislation to open federal land surrounding the BWCA to copper-sulfide. This radical piece of legislation is not only a land giveaway, but would cut out judicial review from the process. That is, no matter how egregious the mine plan, citizens could not sue to stop the project. This bill will pass the House. The question is whether it will pass the Senate.

We have our work cut out for us and have already begun to bolster our legal, policy, and technical resources to fight this. 

The Boundary Waters needs your help, now.

A Brief History of Twin Metals

When plans for a copper-sulfide mine near the edge of the Boundary Waters was announced, people began to organize and rally around an effort to protect some of the cleanest water in the country.  

After reexamining the consequences such a mine would have on the surrounding environment, the Department of the Interior opted not to renew the mineral leases held by the Chilean-owned mining conglomerate seeking to open the mine, Antofagasta. No leases, no mines.

What’s more, the Forest Service announced that it would begin a two-year study on the potential effects of copper-sulfide mining on the Boundary Waters watershed. This study would consider whether or not there should be an all-out ban on mining on some 234,000 acres of federal land surrounding the Boundary Waters.

These victories, however, were short-lived. When Trump took office, Antofagasta began an intensive lobbying campaign, complete with the billionaire owner of Antofagasta buying a mansion in Washington, DC that he rented to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. The industry-friendly administration rolled out the red carpet for Antofagasta, illegally revived and reinstated the expired mineral leases, and then abruptly stopped the two-year study. Subsequently they suppressed all the research and findings in the study from the public. Clearly they were working for Antofagasta’s best interests. 

But after the 2020 elections, things once again changed. The Biden administration reversed these industry giveaways, canceling the two mineral leases that had been illegally revived by the Trump administration. The administration then completed the two-year study, which ultimately resulted in a 20-year ban on sulfide mining on federal land near the Boundary Waters.

Of course, Antofagasta and its subsidiary Twin Metals weren’t going to accept this. 

With little legal grounding to their claims, they sued the federal government in an attempt to undercut these protections. Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, along with other conservation groups, businesses and organizations, intervened on behalf of the federal government. Twin Metals was making a Hail Mary pass, and we asked the court to dismiss the case.

In a 21-page ruling, the judge concluded that Twin Metals’ lawsuit lacked the legal requirements to go forward on two of its claims, the judge also said the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the other two claims brought by Twin Metals. And so, the court threw out the case. 

As far as legal recourse goes, there is little Twin Metals can do. 

This recent victory is one more layer of protection against mining interests. Though it may seem like the Boundary Waters is safe, one need only to look at the past eight years to know that nothing is guaranteed. Administrations change, priorities change, and just because the Boundary Waters is protected today, doesn’t mean the danger from the mining industry has passed.

As long as there is copper in the ground, the threat will remain.

But as long as people paddle these waters and fall in love with the place, there will be people to protect it.