Tribes, health officials, Chamber of Commerce weigh in on PolyMet

Polymet site
The concentrator building at Polymet on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 near Aurora, Minn.
Derek Montgomery / For MPR News

The nearly 50,000 comments the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has collected on the PolyMet copper-nickel mining proposal include e-mails, hand-written letters and postcards, and even full research reports containing hundreds of pages of graphs and data analysis.

The DNR is categorizing the comments by topic, and all the new pieces of information or questions pertaining to the draft environmental impact statement will get a response in the final EIS.

More: Copper-nickel mining stories, photos and video

The DNR's Steve Colvin said he has no idea how long it will take to edit and publish a final version of the study.

Political Coverage Powered by You

Your gift today creates a more connected Minnesota. MPR News is your trusted resource for election coverage, reporting and breaking news. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

"We really need to read through the comments and understand what the next steps are going to be for some of these analyses and rework on the EIS before we'll have a good sense of timeframe," he said.

The Environmental Protection Agency as well as several tribes and advocacy groups have sent in their comments. MPR News has received some of those comments and links to them are provided below.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Bois Forte Band

1854 Treaty Authority

Minnesota Department of Health

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, who represents the district where PolyMet wants to mine

Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy

Grand Portage Band of Chippewa

Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission

WaterLegacy

Center for Science in Public Participation

Center for Biological Diversity, Save our Sky Blue Waters, Save Lake Superior Association, Friends of the Cloquet Valley State Forest and the Sierra Club