Army Corps Pulls Key Permit For Copper-Nickel Mine Near Hoyt Lakes
A key permit for a proposed copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes, known as the NorthMet Project, has been revoked by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The announcement was made Tuesday in a 27-page report.
The Army Corps said the proposed mine “does not ensure compliance with water quality requirements of the Fond du Lac band of Lake Superior Chippewa.”
NewRange Copper Nickel Company is behind the first-of-its-kind mining project in Minnesota.
NewRange was formed through PolyMet and Teck.
In previous comments regarding the project, NorthMet’s CEO had defended the proposed mine and said facts and science prove the project is safe.
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa released the following statement Tuesday evening:
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has been waiting for the Corps’ to make the only decision it could, that the NorthMet Project cannot proceed as proposed. Vice-Chairman Roger Smith said of the decision “today the Corps made the right decision to permanently revoke the Section 404 Permit issued to PolyMet Mining Inc.” The Corps’ decision validates the Band’s significant and long-standing concerns with the Project and is consistent with both the Band’s and EPA’s scientific and technical determinations that the Project will violate the Band’s downstream water quality standards. The Corps’ decision protects the Band’s downstream waters as well as the waters of downstream communities. The science simply does not support PolyMet’s claims that the NorthMet Project will not degrade water quality. Chairman Dupuis Sr. remarked that “the Corps decision was the right one and upholds the trust responsibility and the treaty promises the United States made to the Band. Through the 1854 Treaty the United States government promised us that our Reservation which is located downstream from the Project would provide a permanent homeland for our people forever. We were also promised the ability to exercise our traditional hunting, fishing and gathering rights within our aboriginal lands that were ceded under the 1854 Treaty where the Project will be located. Despite these solemn promises by the United States, our Reservation and our Ceded Territory lands have been under attack from pollution for decades. Today’s decision protects the rights and resources promised to us under the Treaty.
Meanwhile, the executive director, Chris Knopf, of Friends of the BWCA released the following statement:
Today, in a major blow to PolyMet’s plans to open a toxic copper-sulfide mine that would pollute Lake Superior, the Army Corp of Engineers revoked a crucial wetlands destruction permit. This enormous victory would not have been possible without the tireless work of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. After Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ignored the Fond du Lac’s scientific objections to the mine, the Band sued and won in federal court. PolyMet’s wetlands destruction permit was then suspended. Today, on the grounds that the permit would allow PolyMet to violate the Band’s water quality standards, the permit was revoked. No permit. No mine. I feel an incredible amount of gratitude for all the work the Band has done to protect our clean water. And thank you to everyone who stood in solidarity with the Fond du Lac Band and made your comments known during the public hearings! I am humbled to work along side such courageous partners.
NewRange also reacted by saying it is reviewing all of its options involving the NorthMet project:
“Today’s decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reversal of thoroughly reviewed water quality data that has been collected and assessed over the last decade. The planned NorthMet Project development is protective of water, air and other resources and can produce copper, nickel and platinum group metals (PGM) in a responsible and sustainable manner. In fact, the project clearly shows that through its proposed water treatment and management processes, it will remove more than 1,400 tons of sulfate per year from the St. Louis River system, the result of historic iron ore mining operations. It also will lead to a net reduction in pre-existing mercury loading to the river system.
“The Corps’ decision is one that requires careful review, determined action, and further engagement with regulators and all key stakeholders. NewRange is reviewing all of our options as we chart a course forward for the development of the NorthMet Project in a safe and environmentally responsible manner that considers NewRange’s communities of interest. The NorthMet Project is a well-considered and thoroughly evaluated development opportunity that will deliver high-demand minerals that are critical to the nation’s and the world’s transition to clean energy and clean mobility technologies, and the promise of jobs and significant economic benefits for northeastern Minnesota.”
