Protect Lake Superior and Minnesota's Arrowhead - Stop PolyMet!
Take Action – Comment by December 21, 2015 on the PolyMet Mine and Land Exchange!
Mount Polly Mine Disaster, August 2014 - British Columbia, Canada (Source: Cariboo Regional District)
Protect our Land and Water, Reject the PolyMet Sulfide Mine!
PolyMet’s Final EIS does not indicate that metallic sulfide mining can be done in the water rich environment of Northern Minnesota without polluting our waterways for centuries to come. The environmental review process has not adequately addressed cumulative impacts to water, land, wildlife or air and the degradation of these natural resources for future generations. PolyMet's proposed sulfide mine poses unacceptable risks to our waters and communities. The Federal land exchange of protected Superior National Forests to facilitate PolyMet's destructive and polluting open pit sulfide mine is not in the public interest and must be denied.
Northeast Minnesota contains the headwaters of three great watersheds--north to Rainy River, east to Lake Superior, and south to the Mississippi. The Arrowhead has been known as one of the most magnificent areas of the state, for its majestic forests, wetlands, and waters. Superior National Forest is a treasure for the citizens of this state and nation. We all bear responsibility for what we will leave behind for the generations ahead. Clean water is a valuable resource in its own right.
It is time to say "No" to PolyMet for once and for all. Take the time to submit a comment on the PolyMet FEIS which ends on December 21st. No public meetings have been scheduled during the comment period.
Public scrutiny is essential to implementing NEPA. The comment and objection periods are inadequate and confusing. There is not enough time to review over 3,500 pages of documents in the complicated EIS and environmental review process for the proposed PolyMet project. An extension of the public comment and objection periods is reasonable, warranted and should be granted. [Include this in your comments on the project]
-- The Poisoning Of Our Waters Is Simply Not Acceptable --
What citizens can do:
The PolyMet FEIS is lacking in pertinent analysis of significant impacts that will change the quality and character of Minnesota's north woods area — for us and the next 25 generations. These are not matters to be taken lightly.
Ask the governor and the agencies to extend the insufficient comment period time. Voice your opposition and objection to this flawed project and review process.
Call the governor at (651-201-3400 or 800-657-3717) and submit an email on his website form HERE:
http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/form/
Click HERE to send a comment email to the MDNR, USFS, USACE, EPA
DNR Commissioner - Tom Landwehr NorthMetFEIS.dnr@state.mn.us
Forest Service Reviewing Officer - Attn: Kathleen Atkinson objections-eastern-region@fs.fed.us
Army Corps of Engineers - Tamara Cameron polymet_pn_comments@usace.army.mil
Region 5 EPA Administrator - Dr. Susan Hedman hedman.susan@epa.gov
* The FEIS will be available for public comment until December 21, 2015 at 4:30 PM CST. The FEIS can be found at the MDNR site
HERE: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/polymet/feis-toc.html
* NorthMet Mining and Land Exchange Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS)
State and federal environmental review of the proposed PolyMet Mining Inc. project website found
HERE: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/polymet/index.html
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Take Action on PolyMet!
Select the text in the green box below by holding down the left mouse buttion and dragging to include all text.
Push the right mouse button and click "copy". Click on link below to open a prepared email.
Click in body of email client, press right mouse button and click "paste".
Click HERE to send a comment email to the MDNR, USFS, USACE, EPA
Notice of Objection: NorthMet Land Exchange/ Superior National Forest; and NorthMet PolyMet FEIS Comment
DNR Commissioner - Tom Landwehr
Forest Service Reviewing Officer - Attn: Kathleen Atkinson
Army Corps of Engineers - Tamara Cameron
Region 5 EPA Administrator - Dr. Susan Hedman
Re: Notice of Objection: NorthMet Land Exchange/ Superior National Forest; & NorthMet PolyMet FEIS Comment
Dear State and Federal Officials,
I oppose the proposed PolyMet NorthMet copper-nickel sulfide mine. The PolyMet Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is inadequate under both federal and state standards;
I object to the U.S. Forest Service proposal to exchange Superior National Forest land for the PolyMet proposal; and I oppose issuing any federal permit allowing PolyMet to destroy wetlands and impair water quality. The PolyMet FEIS is inadequate under federal and state laws and regulations because:
- It fails to evaluate pollution risks to drinking water, fish, wild rice and human health using realistic assumptions about how much polluted seepage will be captured and treated during operations, reclamation, and closure.
- It fails to analyze health risks and impacts on children, workers and communities who rely on fish and wild rice for subsistence, including risks from asbestos-like particles and methylmercury.
- It does not evaluate the impacts of polluted seepage north of the mine site on the 100 Mile Swamp and the Rainy River (Boundary Waters area) Basin.
- It fails to adequately consider alternatives to minimize environmental harm, reduce polluted seepage from unlined permanent waste facilities, mitigate wetlands destruction, and reduce the threat of catastrophic dam failure. I strongly object to the proposed NorthMet Mining Project Land Exchange in the Superior National Forest because:
- It conflicts with federal policy to protect wetlands, resulting in direct destruction of 913 acres of wetlands and destruction or impairment of up to 8,264 acres of wetlands.
- It would degrade surface and groundwater, violating the Superior National Forest plan and state, federal and tribal water quality standards.
- It would harm endangered, threatened and species of concern, including the northern goshawk, great gray owl, lynx and moose.
- It is not in the public interest, would impair tribal resources, and would result in an uncalculated loss of ecological services. I oppose any federal Clean Water Act permit for PolyMet discharge and wetlands destruction because:
- PolyMet discharge of pollutants and wetlands destruction and impairment would degrade surface and groundwater and violate federal, state and tribal water quality standards.
- PolyMet discharge of pollutants and wetlands destruction and impairment would have adverse impacts on municipal water supplies, aquatic life, wildlife, human health and welfare, environmental justice and special aquatic sites.
- The PolyMet proposal does not adequately consider alternatives to reduce harm to wetlands and water quality and is not the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative.
- The PolyMet proposal fails to quantify or provide mitigation for indirect loss of up to 8,264 acres of wetlands, and provides wholly inadequate mitigation for direct destruction of 913 acres of wetlands within the Lake Superior Basin.
I request the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reject the PolyMet FEIS as inadequate; the U.S. Forest Service reject the proposed exchange of Superior National Forest lands for the PolyMet project; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency veto and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deny any Section 404 permit that would allow PolyMet polluted discharge and wetlands destruction. I object to the land exchange under the Forest Service Rules found at 36 CFR 218; the responsible official for that decision is Superior National Forest Supervisor Brenda Halter. I submitted comments on the PolyMet SDEIS and/or I reject any claim that the objection process can be limited to people who commented prior to the draft land exchange Record of Decision. I will provide a signature to verify my identity upon request.
I request an extension of the PolyMet comment and objection periods. Public scrutiny is essential to implementing NEPA. The comment and objection periods are inadequate and confusing. There is not enough time to review over 3,500 pages of documents in the complicated EIS and environmental review process for the proposed PolyMet project. An extension of the public comment and objection periods is reasonable, warranted and should be granted.
I request a specific response to my comments.
Name
Address
Phone number (required for comments to be considered by Forest Service)
Take These Actions On PolyMet!
# From Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP) organizations: Act now to protect MN water - file your objection to PolyMet's risky plan!
Go HERE: Leave a Legacy of Clean Water - Object to PolyMet's Risky Plan
# From Mining Truth: Leave a Legacy of Clean Water: Object to PolyMet's Risky Plan!
Go HERE: PolyMet would do more harm than good
# From the Sierra Club: Stop the proposed PolyMet open-pit sulfide mine
Go HERE: Stop PolyMet! Take Action Today
# From American Rivers: Protect Minnesota's Rivers from Harmful Mining!
Go HERE: Tell Minnesota's Governor, Mark Dayton, to veto this destructive mining project!
# From Earthworks: Minnesota Rivers and Forest Threatened by Mining!
Go HERE: TAKE ACTION: Tell MN-DNR to protect our natural treasures from mining!
# From the Center for Biological Diversity: Protect Lake Superior Watershed From Toxic Mine
Go HERE: Take Action--urge your state and federal officials to reject PolyMet's mine proposal
# From the League of Women Voters - Minnesota: Leave a Legacy of Clean Water
Go HERE: Take Action--Say NO to Copper/Nickel Sulfide Mining in Minnesota's Arrowhead
# From the Izaak Walton League of America - Minnesota Division: Stop PolyMet!
Go HERE: Stop PolyMet - Take Action
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Gilt Edge Mine Superfund site - Black Hills, South Dakota [Source - EPA]
PolyMet’s Perilous Precipice: Say No to Falling Off the Cliff
By Elanne Palcich, Save Our Sky Blue Waters
Found HERE at MEP blog: http://www.mepartnership.org/polymets-perilous-precipice-say-no-to-falling-off-the-cliff/
Found HERE at the Duluth Reader: http://duluthreader.com/articles/2015/11/24/6300_polymets_perilous_precipice
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Take Action on PolyMet!
# Submit comments listing how PolyMet’s FEIS is inadequate and in opposition to the project, and object to the USFS land exchange.
# Also ask for additional time in order to post substantive comments to all three cooperating agencies (include the EPA).
Click HERE to send a comment email to the MDNR, USFS, USACE, EPA
RE: Notice of Objection: NorthMet Land Exchange/ Superior National Forest; and NorthMet PolyMet FEIS Comment
RECIPIENTS:
DNR Commissioner - Tom Landwehr NorthMetFEIS.dnr@state.mn.us
Forest Service Reviewing Officer - Attn: Kathleen Atkinson objections-eastern-region@fs.fed.us
Army Corps of Engineers - Tamara Cameron polymet_pn_comments@usace.army.mil
Region 5 EPA Administrator - Dr. Susan Hedman hedman.susan@epa.gov
Dear State and Federal Officials,
I oppose the proposed PolyMet NorthMet copper-nickel sulfide mine. The PolyMet Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is inadequate under both federal and state standards;
I object to the U.S. Forest Service proposal to exchange Superior National Forest land for the PolyMet proposal; and I oppose issuing any federal permit allowing PolyMet to destroy wetlands and impair water quality. The PolyMet FEIS is inadequate under federal and state laws and regulations because:
Reasons to oppose and object to the PolyMet-NorthMet Mining Project and Land Exchange:
• There is no analysis regarding the cumulative effects of opening a sulfide mining district in the heart of Superior National Forest, and in the headwaters of both the Lake Superior and Rainy River watersheds.
• The Superior National Forest Land Exchange is not in the public interest and should be rejected. The land was originally purchased for watershed protection. Changing ownership of the land from public to private would result in a subsequent loss of Federal protections.
• The PolyMet project would harm endangered, threatened and species of concern, including the northern goshawk, great gray owl, lynx and moose.
• The FEIS does not address impacts to downstream communities, including Duluth, Superior, and Fond du Lac. Cumulative health risks need to be evaluated. These include contaminated drinking water, mercury in fish, and release of asbestos-like particles.
• Mitigation strategies to prevent pollution are insufficient and need to be re-evaluated. Cost saving measures are being accepted by our agencies, favoring industry over environment.
• The FEIS fails to use realistic assumptions about how much polluted seepage will be captured and treated during operations, reclamation, and closure.
• The FEIS fails to adequately consider alternatives to minimize environmental harm, reduce polluted seepage from unlined permanent waste facilities, mitigate wetlands destruction, and reduce the threat of catastrophic dam failure.
• The FEIS does not adequately address PolyMet tailings basin stability, even though Canada’s Mount Polley dam break disaster occurred over a year ago. The FEIS is incomplete without addressing the causes of Brazil’s 2015 Samarco Mine disaster.
• Basic ground water modeling results are in dispute. The FEIS doesn’t evaluate the impacts of polluted seepage flow north of the mine site into the Rainy River (Boundary Waters) Basin.
• In a time of extreme market weakness, there is no reference to adequate financial assurance needed for centuries of water treatment. Perpetual pollution is not acceptable.
• The FEIS does not acknowledge over-all degradation and loss of water resources. Allowing high quality water to be degraded to minimum state standards is not acceptable. Long-term water degradation and pollution is not predictable for the large scale of mining involved.
Inadequacy of the PolyMet Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) comment and objection periods
RE: Notice of Objection: NorthMet Land Exchange/ Superior National Forest; and NorthMet PolyMet FEIS Comment
• The PolyMet-NorthMet Mine and Land Exchange FEIS consists of four file folders containing over 3,500 pages. The document can be accessed online, but thousands of pages of reference materials are missing.
• There are no public informational meetings to assist citizens.
• Comments must be sent separately to the DNR on the adequacy of the FEIS, to the USFS on the proposed land exchange, and to the ACOE (Army Corps of Engineers) on wetland losses. Email contact information is unclear for the differing agencies. The DNR website has experienced technical difficulties and lapses.
• Staggered comment periods lead to confusion for the public. Citizens have 30 days to respond to the ACOE, ending on December 14; and 37 days to respond to the MDNR, ending on December 21; and 45 days to respond to the USFS, ending on January 4.
• The comment periods extend over the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year’s holiday season when many citizens are involved with family or travel.
• The comment periods are the shortest allowed by law, for the largest EIS for a single project in Minnesota history.
• Any citizen would need to read and prepare comments on 150 pages of the FEIS per day in order to meet the 30 day deadline.
• Is this really a fair and neutral process? The agencies need to grant an extension of the public comment periods for PolyMet. Include this in your comments on the project.
I request the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reject the PolyMet FEIS as inadequate; the U.S. Forest Service reject the proposed exchange of Superior National Forest lands for the PolyMet project; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency veto and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deny any Section 404 permit that would allow PolyMet polluted discharge and wetlands destruction. I object to the land exchange under the Forest Service Rules found at 36 CFR 218; the responsible official for that decision is Superior National Forest Supervisor Brenda Halter. I submitted comments on the PolyMet SDEIS and/or I reject any claim that the objection process can be limited to people who commented prior to the draft land exchange Record of Decision. I will provide a signature to verify my identity upon request.
I request an extension of the PolyMet comment and objection periods. Public scrutiny is essential to implementing NEPA. The comment and objection periods are inadequate and confusing. There is not enough time to review over 3,500 pages of documents in the complicated EIS and environmental review process for the proposed PolyMet project. An extension of the public comment and objection periods is reasonable, warranted and should be granted.
I request a specific response to my comments.
Name
Address
Phone number (required for comments to be considered by Forest Service)
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Animas River Mine Spill, August, 2015 - Colorado (EPA)
Comment submission details:
Email MDNR: NorthMetFEIS.dnr@state.mn.us
Tom Landwehr, MDNR Commissioner
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Road, Box 25
St. Paul, MN 55155
Email U. S. Forest Service: objections-eastern-region@fs.fed.us
Attn: Reviewing Officer, Kathleen Atkins
USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region
626 E. Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Email US Army Corps of Engineers: polymet_pn_comments@usace.army.mil
Tamara Cameron, USACE
Regulatory Branch, St. Paul District
180 Fifth St. East, Suite 700
St. Paul, MN 55101
Email USEPA: hedman.susan@epa.gov
Dr. Susan Hedman, US EPA Region 5 Administrator
Ralph Metcalfe Federal Building
77 West Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
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