Don’t let iron mine pollute Wisconsin’s water 07/29/2011

This is a copy of an op-ed piece that was submitted to the Cap Times.

 It was pubished on their web site. (captimes.com) This article

 was written by Ay Mondloch and me. (Without Amy's help it still would

 be a work in progress.)

 Events are moving quickly to open a strip mine in northern Wisconsin’s

 Iron and Ashland counties. The Gogebic Taconite company is working

 hard to push its mining agenda forward, with a second attempt to

 rewrite the state’s mining laws expected to come soon from the

 governor’s office.

 GTac officials began by leading us to believe they would follow

 Wisconsin’s mining regulations and laws. Their proposal to strip mine

 in the Bad River watershed raised concerns and questions as to how

 they would protect this pristine watershed. These issues were not

 addressed. Instead GTac responded by trying to rewrite Wisconsin’s

 mining laws (see savethewatersedge.com for more information) and

 investing dollars to convince us that these rewrites constituted a

 “jobs for generations” bill. Rather than call this a strip mine, it

 was deemed a “multigenerational mine.”

 As the details of this bill began to leak out, legislators became

 nervous and the bill was tossed in the dustbin.

 GTac officials reacted by announcing they are holding off on the $1.5

 billion project and won’t continue exploration until the mining laws

 are changed to their specifications, which would allow mining

 companies unlimited access to water and freedom to place mining wastes

 dangerously close to streams and wetlands. This is too much to bear.

 Wisconsin is not for sale. While GTac attempts to portray this as a

 “jobs for generations” mine, the jobs will be temporary. The

 destruction to the area would be permanent. And it has yet to be shown

 how many workers in other fields would be displaced by the mine.

 We can expect additional slogans while water quality is ignored. GTac

 is becoming its own worst enemy as concerns for protecting the Bad

 River watershed from runoff, chemicals, dust, and debris produced by

 open pit mining are continually ignored.

 In the meantime we are offered an audacious suggestion to create a

 bipartisan committee to facilitate a public discussion about how

 mining permits should be reviewed. The issue is not how permits should

 be reviewed; the issue is dismantling the current laws to give mining

 companies an open door to plunder Wisconsin’s resources. This appears

 to be another attempt to sanitize the debate and legitimize efforts to

 rewrite mining laws to meet the needs of the industry.

 As we await the new legislation from a governor who wants Wisconsin to

 be open for business, we should think about the need for laws that

 provide both sensible governance and prosperity for the future. To

 accomplish that, we urge the Legislature to consider adopting the

 Seventh Generation Amendment: “The right of citizens of the United

 States to use and enjoy air, water, wildlife and other renewable

 resources determined by the Congress to be common property shall not

 be impaired, nor shall such use impair their availability for the use

 of future generations.”

 Amy S. Mondloch of Madison and Frank Koehn of Ashland are members of

 Save the Water’s Edge.