AURORA -- Memorial Gymnasium at Mesabi East High School was packed Wednesday night with people who wanted to talk about the future of copper mining in Minnesota, but they couldn't hear each other's comments.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a joint public meeting on the environmental impacts of the proposed PolyMet copper mine, and the agencies were careful not to call it a public hearing.
The public was allowed to submit oral or written comments, as anyone can do through Feb. 3. But oral comments were allowed only to a stenographer or camera -- no public open microphone was allowed.
The DNR allowed some open-microphone questions after its presentation, but only Iron Range legislators were allowed to address the crowd on the merits of the proposal.
Still, nearly 1,000 people, most of them wearing "Support PolyMet Jobs" stickers, braved sub-zero wind chills to attend the meeting.
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"We need something on the east end of the Range. We haven't had much since LTV went down," said James Lakso of Aurora. Lakso, who worked for the old LTV taconite plant where PolyMet would process copper, now is on layoff from Hibbing Taconite. "Everybody all over the world is competing for businesses like this. Why shouldn't we do it here?" Many others agreed.
"We finally got a barber back up here this summer. But she had to leave after four months. There wasn't enough business," said Lyn Babcock of nearby White Township. "We need this to keep our young people around"
But opponents say copper mines will be as cyclic as iron mines, and note that mining hasn't worked to keep the Iron Range economy healthy over the long haul.
"We shouldn't be diversifying mining. We should be diversifying the economy with jobs that won't harm water," said Carla Arneson of Ely.
The second and final scheduled public meeting on the issue, with the same format, is tonight in Blaine.
DNR officials say the no-open-microphone system not only prevents grandstanding and lengthy speeches, it also allows more people to give unobstructed comments without cat-calls or heckling. And it eliminates the need to pick and choose who gets to talk.
"We were hearing there might be 2,000 people here. How would we give everyone the chance to talk?" said Marty Vadis, DNR minerals division director. "We thought this was the fairest way, that we'd give it a try."
The comment process has upset both supporters and opponents of copper mining in Minnesota. Mine supporters say they were eager to parade a plethora of Iron Range politicians and union leaders in front of the meeting to speak about the value of new jobs and a diversified Range economy.
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"To have a public meeting where the public doesn't get to comment is really a boneheaded move," said Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Pike Township, who supports the copper mine.
Mine opponents say they wanted to show that many people in northern Minnesota, not just Twin Cities environmentalists, oppose copper mining.
"Now we'll never be able to hear what our neighbors have to say about this huge issue," said Paula Maccabee, attorney for the Water Legacy group. "No one is going to hear about all the serious concerns the tribal natural resource agencies have about this project unless someone stops to read the written comments. But the DNR knows very few people do that."
The PolyMet open pit mine between Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt would be the state's first copper-nickel mine. It would employ about 400 people for 20 years or more and pump millions in payroll and taxes into the local economy. Supporters say the metals in the ground are critical to the national economy and new technology.
Critics say the danger of sulfuric acid mine runoff, however, is not worth the economic gain. Acidic runoff from the mine pit, waste rock and tailings basin could leech toxic metals into nearby waters that run into the St. Louis River and Lake Superior, they claim. Other proposed mine projects would drain into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
