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Minnesota History

The legacy of the Reserve Mining case

Lake Superior's water is famous for being clear and clean. But the lake was an early battleground in the fight over environmental protection. Reserve Mining Co. used to dump its waste rock into the lake. Tons of sediment poured into the lake every day for 25 years, turning the water gray-green and muddy. Duluth's drinking water, 50 miles away, was contaminated with a fiber that might cause cancer. The fight to stop the pollution was an early chapter in the history of the environmental movement.

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Miles Lord remains an activist

The Reserve case was not only a turning point in environmental protection. Many of the people involved in the case also experienced it as a unique time in their own lives. Some say it was almost as intense as being in combat. The presiding judge in the case, Miles Lord, says details of the case come to his mind as if it happened yesterday.

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Human health vs. environmental protection

The Reserve Mining case started out as an environmental argument, but it was ultimately settled over the question of whether human health was at risk.

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John Blatnik's contradictory role

Everyone involved in the Reserve Mining case knew the stakes were high. The question of where Reserve should dump its waste was a thorny issue in Minnesota politics for years. John Blatnik played a contradictory role.

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BWCA fallout: 'The Minnesota Massacre'

The term Minnesota Massacre was a term largely adopted by the State's DFL Party. Independent Republicans likely had a much kinder name for the outcome of Minnesota's 1978 general election. That's when three of the state's most prominent statewide offices turned over from DFL to Independent Republican hands -- and fallout from the BWCA debate was one factor.

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The Boundary Waters: 25 years later

It was 25 years ago Tuesday that President Jimmy Carter signed a bill creating the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Minnesota's one million-acre canoe country first joined the National Wilderness system in 1964. But the region was given special exemptions to allow motors, logging and even mining. The controversy over what was appropriate in the wilderness boiled for years. Then, in 1978, two lawyers drafted an historic compromise that still guides activities in the Boundary Waters today.

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1862 war site being restored

Rows of corn and soybeans are being replaced by native prairie plants on a historic field in southwest Minnesota. About a dozen settlers and several Indians were killed there during a war 141 years ago. Descendents of people on both sides gathered at the site to dedicate a monument.

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John Ashcroft in Minnesota in support of Patriot Act

Attorney General John Ashcroft brushed aside critics of the USA Patriot Act on Friday, saying the United States was freer and safer than it was two years ago. "American is more secure today than two years ago, and it's safer and freer than at any time in the history of human freedom," he said.

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Former governor honored at 80th birthday celebration

A sold-out crowd of 1,000 people celebrated former Gov. Al Quie's 80th birthday Thursday night. Friends and colleagues say Quie's strong commitment to public service, bipartisan politics and spirituality makes him a unique man and role model.

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Vintage planes recreate National Air Tour

Later this week, about 30 vintage airplanes from the 1920s and '30s will be roaring in the skies above the Twin Cities. Celebrating that time, known as the Golden Age of aviation, is the point behind the 2003 National Air Tour which comes through the Anoka County Airport on Wednesday. About 30 vintage airplanes are being flown on the tour, which begins in Detroit, Michigan. They'll make their way through Illinois, Wisconsin, and arrive at the Anoka County Airport on Wednesday.

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