This is to counter Gogebic’s propaganda, “We found no asbestos in the Penokees” 12.06.13

I just sent this to the Eau Claire paper & our representatives at Madison This is to counter Gogebic’s propaganda, “We found no asbestos in the Penokees”

This is an open letter to the public and the WDNR

Argument and heated opinions form the discussion of allowing Gogebic to do preliminary mining and blasting. “Where is there real evidence from science?” I asked myself.

Earlier this year, Gogebic said, 

““Based on our due diligence, the geologic conditions in the Gogebic Iron Range do not support the formation of asbestos,” the company said in a July 28 letter after the DNR asked for an estimate of possible emissions to be included in an application for a bulk sampling permit. “We do not expect asbestos or asbestiform minerals to be present.”

Gogebic gets an F grade for “due diligence.” 

I went to the DNR’s geology site, and looked up Wisconsin minerals.

Geologists and mining companies surely want to know the minerals in an area that they propose to mine.

This is how I learned about the geology of grunerite in Ashland County:

On the internet, I went to wisconsingeologicalsurvey.org

The above site lists minerals by county.

I went to the following address:

www.wisconsingeologicalsurvey.org

This led to a list of minerals by county, and I went to Ashland and found:

wisconsingeologicalsurvey.org/mineral%20index/.../grunerite.htm

This is what it said:

ASHLAND COUNTY: Grunerite is a widespread contact metamorphic minerals in the Ironwood Iron Formation around mafic intrusions. It occurs as tiny white to greenish acicular or platy crystals. It is associated with magnetite, ankerite, almandine, minnesotaite, cummingtonite, stilpnomelane and iron-rich pyroxenes (U.S.G.S., 1976; Laybourn, 1979). Some of a number of outcrops cited by Laybourn include: – East bank of Ballou Creek, NW NE Sec. 11 T.44N R.2W. – The Birkshire Mine on Mt. Whittlesey, SW SW SE Sec. 9 T.44N R.2W. – Near Mellen in the SE NW Sec. 13 on the west side of highway 13 and at Penokee Gap, NW NW sec. 14 T.44N R.4W. etc.

I left out a number of grunerite locations.

I am a layperson, and with 20 minutes of googling, it was easy to discover that the Wisconsin State Geological Survey in its county mineral list says that grunerite is widespread. So grunerite, rich in asbestos, is common.

That is not due diligence.

I want some real geologists, not paid by Gogebic, to assess this situation before their blasting spreads a cloud of asbestos all over the area. I want to camp at Copper Falls without breathing asbestos.

Mary Kenosian 416 E. Tyler Ave. Eau Claire, WI