An environmental group claims the proposed PolyMet copper mine on the Iron Range would damage sensitive lands and increase Minnesota's output of carbon dioxide.
Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness this week said Superior National Forest land proposed for the open pit mine was classified in the 1990s by federal and state biologists as special habitat worthy of protection.
The group cited at least three reports by state and federal agencies that suggest the land, part of what's called the "100-mile Swamp," should be protected. One assessment suggested that the area be designated a state Scientific and Natural Area and another suggested a National Forest Research and Natural Area.
The land was never included for special protections. But the group says the land should remain in public ownership and undeveloped.
"The biologists identified this land, as part of a larger area, as some of the best examples of habitat in those ecosystems," said Betsy Daub, policy director for the group. "They may not have been officially designated, but they still have high value."
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The group estimates that removal of 1,000 acres of peat bog for the mine would increase Minnesota's contribution of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2.7 million metric tons.
PolyMet spokeswoman LaTisha Gietzen said the group exaggerates the mine's impact on wetlands and carbon. The mine would affect only 850 acres of wetlands, she said, and not all of it is peat. She said the actual carbon output from peat disruption would be only 3,000 metric tons.
"Our impact on the actual 100-mile Swamp is probably less than 40 acres," Gietzen said. "I'm not sure where they are getting their numbers, but they don't add up."
Others note that the area is between two existing open-pit taconite mines, has been extensively logged and is far from pristine.
"This is just another example of misinformation from a Twin Cities anti-mining group," said Frank Ongaro, executive director of Mining Minnesota, an industry group.
It remains unclear when the PolyMet project might advance.
A joint Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental review of the mine, under way since 2004 and at one point expected in 2007, still is not ready for public review. Company officials say they now expect it by September. The DNR continues to hammer out specifics with PolyMet on preventing acidic runoff into waterways, both during mining and after operations cease.
While PolyMet has mineral rights, the site of the mine is owned by the U.S. Forest Service. PolyMet is negotiating with multiple private landowners within the national forest to buy land to then trade with the Forest Service for land at the mine site.
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PolyMet is proposing Minnesota's first copper mine. It also would produce nickel, platinum and other valuable metals. The mine site is near Babbitt, while the company would use the former LTV Steel taconite plant near Hoyt Lakes as a processing center. The operation would create 400 or more jobs for more than 20 years.
