Mesabi Nugget asks for delay in sulfate ruling

Mesabi Nugget has a response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest ruling over its sulfate discharges: Not so fast.
In a motion filed in U.S. District Court of Minnesota, Mesabi Nugget is asking for a 30-day delay in a settlement the EPA reached earlier this week with the Fond du Lac and Grand Portage bands of Lake Superior Chippewa and two environmental groups.
At issue is the amount of sulfate and three other pollutants the Iron Range mine is allowed to discharge into Second Creek, which flows into the Partridge River and, ultimately, into the St. Louis River.
The state’s current standard is 10 parts per million for sulfate in waters where wild rice grows. The issue of how much sulfate is too much for wild rice has long been in dispute.
In December 2012, the EPA agreed to a variance that already had been approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Opponents claimed the variance allowed a level of sulfate nearly 16 times the state standard.
That led to the lawsuit, filed last June by the Lake Superior Chippewa bands, the Water Legacy, and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. On Monday, the EPA asked the court to reverse its earlier decision to approve the variance.
In its motion, which was filed on Thursday, Mesabi Nugget argues that it should have had input on the decision. The Hoyt Lakes-based mining company is represented by David R. Oberstar of Fryberger, Buchanan, Smith and Frederick.
“Mesabi Nugget’s ability to operate will be affected by EPA’s motion,” Oberstar wrote in a letter to Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois of U.S. Circuit Court in Duluth. “The EPA did not consult with or seek input from Mesabi Nugget before reaching its decision to reverse its prior variance approval.”
The Mesabi Nugget motion asks the court to delay acting on the EPA’s motion for 30 days to give Mesabi a chance to make its case with the EPA.
Neither Oberstar nor Jeff Hansen, Mesabi Nugget plant manager, could be reached for comment on Friday.  
A hearing was set for April 24 in front of Brisbois in Duluth.