Forest Service to hold Iron Range hearing on Twin Metals lease renewals
After pressure last week from local leaders in northeast Minnesota as well as members of the state's Congressional delegation, the U.S. Forest Service announced Thursday it will hold a second hearing to get public input on whether to renew a pair of controversial mineral leases near the Boundary Waters.
The Forest Service had already scheduled a "listening session" in Duluth July 13 on the leases held by Twin Metals Minnesota.
Now Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, and northeast Minnesota U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, say a hearing will also be held on the Iron Range.
"It is good that the U.S. Forest Service finally heeded our call and will be holding a public comment/listening session on the Iron Range," said Klobuchar in the joint statement.
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"It's important that folks living on the Iron Range have their voices heard regarding mineral leases in their own backyard," added Franken.
Last month the Forest Service said it was deeply concerned by the leases within the same watershed as the Boundary Waters, and the "inherent risks" associated with potential copper-nickel mining so near the wilderness.
The Forest Service also said it "is considering withholding consent for lease renewal."
Twin Metals has not released a formal mine plan, but in a study released two years ago, the company laid out tentative plans for an underground mine that would cost nearly $3 billion to build, would operate for 30 years and employ about 850 people.
The leases are located roughly 10 miles southeast of Ely, near Birch Lake, just south of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The Forest Service's 30-day public input period ends July 20. No date has been announced yet for the Iron Range hearing.