Mark Dayton, who served as Minnesota’s governor from 2011 to 2019, published a commentary in the Star Tribune yesterday urging President Joe Biden to permanently prohibit sulfide-ore mining in areas where water flows toward the Boundary Waters.
“The BWCA is a priceless treasure, which attracts visitors from all over our country and around the world. Its vast forests and waterways provide recreation and respite — a place to bask in the beauty of untrammeled nature. Wolves, lynx, moose, loons, eagles, walleyes, northerns and hundreds more species of wild creatures grace its land, air and water. Generations of families have made BWCA trips cornerstones of their times together. Vibrant and sustainable local economies thrive in nearby communities….”
– Mark Dayton: Sulfide mining has no business near our Boundary Waters, Star Tribune, March 9, 2021
Chilean company Antofagasta is seeking to open a large underground mine near the South Kawishiwi River and Birch Lake. This form of mining has caused water pollution where it’s been done elsewhere. Dayton said such environmental risks are unacceptable upstream of the beloved wilderness area.
“When I was governor, I made it clear that I support mining where it can be conducted safely, but not where it threatens fragile, irreplaceable ecosystems,” he wrote.
In 2016, Dayton led the charge to block the Twin Metals proposal with a series of state-level decisions. He ordered the Department of Natural Resources to not lease any more state land to the company. He also shared his views with both President Obama and later with President Trump.
Obama followed suit by refusing to renew leases to extract publicly-owned minerals, withdrawing the entire wilderness watershed from mining for 20 years, and starting a study of mining’s possible impact on the region’s waters, wildlife, and public land. Despite Dayton’s support for protection, the Trump administration overturned Obama’s decisions.
In late 2019, Antofagasta subsidiary Twin Metals submitted its first official proposal for the mine, beginning what is expected to be a lengthy environmental review and permitting process. The plan includes large waste piles near the shore of Birch Lake — and would require additional state lands to do it.
It’s now up to new President Joe Biden’s administration to decide if it will renew Obama’s push for protection. Biden’s Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, was recently confirmed and sworn in. Vilsack also served in the role in Obama’s administration, where he was a leader in the effort to stop mining in the wilderness watershed. In 2018, Vilsack wrote in an op-ed that permitting a mine near the Boundary Waters “makes no sense.” Another key cabinet member, Interior Secretary nominee Deb Haaland, may be confirmed within days. The Interior Department oversees the Bureau of Land Management, a key agency in managing mining on federal land.
Dayton’s opinion piece stresses that the new administration should continue Obama’s policies.
“Now the Biden administration and Congress must act to protect the BWCA from this imminent exploitation and possible permanent damage. It should immediately reverse actions driven by political maneuvering to benefit a Chilean mining company. The administration must complete a much-needed science-based study to support a 20-year administrative mining ban. Together, Congress and the Biden administration should extend the administrative ban by passing legislation to make the protection permanent. The BWCA is not a 20-year wilderness; the only acceptable goal is permanent protection from copper mining near the Boundary Waters.”
– Mark Dayton: Sulfide mining has no business near our Boundary Waters, Star Tribune, March 9, 2021
More information:
- Mark Dayton: Sulfide mining has no business near our Boundary Waters, Star Tribune, March 9, 2021
- Twin Metals Minnesota Project – Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) – MN DNR
- Non-Ferrous Mine and Preference Right Lease in Superior National Forest – Bureau of Land Management