Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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Minnesota regulators began accepting public comments Tuesday on whether the state's regulation of nonferrous mining would provide sufficient protection against environmental damage to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The comment period runs through Dec. 8. The 

Department of Natural Resources has established a dedicated webpage

 for its review with a link to submit public comments online. The DNR is also taking comments by regular mail.

DNR review of the siting rule for nonferrous mines

At issue is whether the state's existing rule that governs siting for copper-nickel mines would adequately protect the Boundary Waters “from pollution, impairment or destruction” from mining in the Rainy River Headwaters watershed. The DNR 

launched a review of the rule under court order

 as part of a lawsuit that seeks to block the proposed Twin Metals mine near Ely, which would be upstream from the country’s most-visited wilderness area.

“It is important that commenters provide substantive information on why the siting rule should or should not be changed,” the agency said in a statement. “Comments that only focus on support for or opposition to mining, without providing further information for the DNR to consider, will not assist the DNR in its decision making about the adequacy of the existing nonferrous mine siting rule.”

The lawsuit by Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness seeks to prohibit nonferrous metallic mineral mining, particularly copper-nickel mining, in the entire Rainy River Headwaters watershed. The current siting rule is narrower. It prohibits mining within the wilderness and mining that disturbs the surface in a designated zone around the Boundary Waters.

a review launched by President Joe Biden’s administration last month

 that created a serious obstacle to the Twin Metals project. It ordered a two-year study that could lead to a 20-year ban on mining upstream from the Boundary Waters. 

. The federal government's move revived an effort to block Twin Metals that began in the final weeks of former President Barack Obama’s administration but was reversed by the Trump administration.

Federal plan to study environmental impacts of mining near BWCA

Twin Metals, which is owned by the Chilean mining giant Antofagasta, says its mine design would prevent any acid drainage from the sulfide-bearing ore and protect the wilderness from pollution. It says the environmental review process already underway, if allowed to move forward, would show that the mine can be safe for the environment and should be permitted.

Environmental News

Minnesota News

Greater Minnesota

Steve Karnowski, Associated Press

Author

Minnesota regulators are accepting public comments on whether the state’s regulation of nonferrous mining would provide sufficient protection against environmental damage to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

A hydro well sits in a cleared out area of forest.

Minnesota lets public weigh in on adequacy of mining rules

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