Environment | National

Mary Pember: Bad River Band wins as massive mine put on hold

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

The watershed on the Bad River Reservation in Wisconsin. Photo from Bad River Band

Mary Annette Pember reports on the temporary death of the $1.5 billion Gogebic Taconite mine that was opposed by the Bad River Band in northern Wisconsin:

Gogebic Taconite announced last week that it is closing its office in Hurley, Wisconsin and, for now, putting plans on hold to build a huge open pit iron ore mine in the pristine Penokee Mountains in Northern Wisconsin. The proposed 4.5 mile wide mine would have produced 8 million tons of finished taconite annually, rivaling the huge Hibbing Taconite in Minnesota according to a report in the Duluth Tribune.
The planned area of the Wisconsin mine is located directly over the Great Northern Divide and the Bad River Watershed through which many streams flow directly into Lake Superior and through the famed wild rice beds on the Bad River Ojibwe Reservation. GTAC’s plans ignited a fiery debate between mining supporters and tribes, local residents and environmentalists.
The mining debate helped create new and surprising alliances between tribal groups and local citizens. Opponents worked to educate county board members and local citizens about the real human cost of the mine as reported by ICTMN.
Although initially strong mine supporters, the Ashland County board created mining regulations of their own requiring mining companies to address problems such as noise, dust, damage to public roads, etc.

Get the Story:
Mary Annette Pember: A Bad River Win; Gogebic Taconite Putting Wisc. Mine on Hold (Indian Country Today 3/3)

Also Today:
Gogebic dropping plans for massive iron mine (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 2/28)
Gogebic Taconite shuts down Wisconsin operations (The Duluth News Tribune 2/28)
Gogebic Taconite says Wisconsin mine isn't feasible; cites wetlands, EPA (The Wisconsin State Journal 2/28)
Mining company closing office in northern Wisconsin (AP 3/1)