Letter: Saving the Boundary Waters from sulfide mining

Talk about it

Anyone who has been to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), or knows that this national treasure is worth protecting, needs to know that mining companies are actively exploring mining of mineral deposits in the area. Some of the drilling is less than one mile from the BWCA, and is near streams and rivers leading into the BWCAW.

The prospects of new jobs and economic development to this economically suffering area are producing strong support for the mining companies’ proposals. But, sadly, we know that mining produces short-term benefits, with long-term consequences.

Sulfide mining is vastly different from the iron mining on the Range. Test drilling has revealed copper, nickel, platinum, and other minerals in the sulfide ores under the surface. When moisture comes in contact with the ores exposed through drilling and mining, it produces sulfuric acid. If it seeps into the groundwater or rains down to streams, wetlands, and rivers, it can have devastating results on the ecosystem. Once acid mine drainage enters a watershed, it will be extremely difficult to prevent or mitigate the damage. Sulfide mining has killed ecosystems in other states and countries.

Comments on the first draft Environmental Impact Statement on a sulfide mine proposal are due February 3, 2010.

Please come to an informational meeting on Thursday, January 21, 2010, at King of Kings Lutheran Church, 1583 Radio Drive, Woodbury, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., to learn more.

Deborah Huskins

Woodbury

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