Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 15:24:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Alice McCombs <amccombs@igc.apc.org>

Contents

1. Wisconsin Update
a. ACTION ALERT! Wisconsin reservation & township battling mine suits
b. Moratorium Example Mines Nothing Like Crandon, Critics Say;
Groups Call for Rule-Making to Stop Inappropriate Mines
c. DNR acknowledges changing Mining Moratorium Law after it passed.
2. Wisconsin AP story on Rio Algom-owned B.C. mine shutdown

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1. Wisconsin Update

a. ACTION ALERT! Wisconsin reservation & township battling mine suits

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ACTION ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wisconsin reservation & township battling mine suits

*******Post and distribute widely*******
Please distribute to groups without e-mail

Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 15:04:23 -0600
From: Midwest Treaty Network <mtn@igc.apc.org>

From the Midwest Treaty Network,
Wolf Watershed Educational Project,
Mining Impact Coalition of Wisconsin,
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council,
and EarthWINS Network

Your support is needed NOW in critical legal cases
involving two northern Wisconsin communities
resisting Rio Algom's proposed Crandon metallic
sulfide mine. The mine would be located partly
within the Town of Nashville in Forest County
(about 100 miles northwest of Green Bay), which
includes the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa
Reservation.

Nashville and Mole Lake residents are concerned
about the future of their drinking water and wild
rice beds, if the shaft mine releases sulfuric
acid wastes or reduces the groundwater table.
(For background and maps on the Crandon mine, see
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/content.html ,
including the state Mining Moratorium law at
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/minelaw.html )

*NASHVILLE voters in 1997 ousted their pro-mine
town board after it made a Local Agreement with
the mining company, and voted in a new town
board that voted to rescind the Agreement. The new
board has gone to court to prove that the Agreement
had been reached illegally, in violation of open-
meetings laws, and the company is expected to
sue the town in return. In a positive example of
interethnic cooperation, the Nashville board has
been working closely with the Mole Lake Chippewa--
both to protect their common land and to secure
more appropriate economic development. (See
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/nash-twn.html )

*THE MOLE LAKE CHIPPEWA in 1995 secured
enhanced regulatory authority to protect their
reservation's water quality under the federal Clean
Water Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) granted the tribe "Treatment-As-State" (TAS)
status, which gives the tribe to set its own water
quality standards and grant certain permits--powers
previously afforded only to states. Now, Wisconsin
Attorney General James E. Doyle is suing the EPA
to rescind Mole Lake's TAS status. In so doing, the
State is attempting to prevent one of its own
communities from protecting its clean water and
cultural resources. The tribe's wild rice beds are
the center of its ancient cultural heritage, and
should be a treasure for all citizens of the state.
The state's legal action singles out a small tribe
that is at potential risk from water contamination,
in a clear case of environmental racism. In Wisconsin,
cultural genocide is apparently not a relic of the past.
Citizens need to send a message that the state lawsuit
does not represent them, and only serves the
interests of mining companies.
(See Cultural Impacts of the Crandon Mine at
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/mtn-cnx3.html )

******************************************

If the Nashville town board or Mole Lake Chippewa
prevail in these two legal cases, their authority alone
may be able to stop the Crandon mine. We are asking
groups concerned about the environment, cultural
preservation, or human rights to IMMEDIATELY
take two actions:

1. Please make a tax-deductible contribution to cover
costs of the Nashville lawsuit. Make the check out to
"Town of Nashville Legal Defense Fund" and send to:

Town of Nashville Legal Defense Fund,
c/o Chuck Sleeter / Joanne Tacopina
P.O. Box 106
Pickerel, WI 54465

Any donation would help, and benefits can also
help educate the public about the local battle
against the Crandon mine.

2. Have your group sign on to the letter below
to State Attorney General James Doyle, urging him
to drop the lawsuit that would block Mole Lake's
power to protect its water quality and wild rice.
The letter will also be released to the media in
March. Send your group's name, contact person,
rough membership numbers, address, phone,
and e-mail BY MARCH 1st to:

Wolf Watershed Educational Project
c/o Midwest Treaty Network
731 State Street
Madison, WI 53703
E-mail: mtn@igc.apc.org
Tel./Fax (608) 246-2256 [days]

*****************************************

Dear Attorney General Doyle,

We support the attempts by Wisconsin Indian tribes
to obtain and maintain Treatment-As-State (TAS)
environmental standards, and further respect the
authority granted by Congress to the EPA to recognize
TAS status. We insist that agreements entered into
by Wisconsin officials and tribes never undermine
the legal authority of tribal governments to protect
the health and well-being of their respective
tribal members or tribal lands, waters, or air. We
respectfully request you to drop all current state
lawsuits against the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) with respect to already granted TAS
status, and refrain from future lawsuits which
attempt to undermine the sovereignty of Wisconsin's
Native American nations.

Congress has acted under federal environmental
statutes to authorize the EPA to delegate to Indian
tribes specific enforcement and regulatory authority
to the same or a similar degree as is delegated by the
EPA to the states.

The Clean Water Act sets the standards governing the
water quality that must be maintained or achieved in
rivers and other navigable waters, and requires
dischargers into these waters to obtain permits
imposing maximum levels of allowable pollutants.
In 1987, Congress amended the Act and authorized
the EPA to delegate to a qualifying tribe regulatory
authority to set water quality standards under
Section 303, to grant permits for dredging and
filling under Section 404, and grant discharge permits
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
In 1986, Congress had similarly amended the Safe
Water Drinking Act to allow the EPA to to delegate
to a tribe primary enforcement authority over
underground injection well regulation or other
program enforcement.

The Clean Air Act is the principal federal statute
regulating emissions into the nation's air, and
functions primarily by requiring sources of air
pollutants to obtain new source or operating permits.
In 1990, Congress amended the Act to authorize the
EPA Administrator to treat tribes as states whenever
tribes are capable of carrying out those functions.

Many of Wisconsin's 11 federally recognized tribes
are seeking or have obtained TAS status from the EPA,
in an attempt to protect their reservation waters or
air from polluting industries such as mines, coal-
burning power plants, and paper mills. Yet state
agencies and officials appear to prefer economic
interests over the human and sovereign rights of
indigenous peoples, their traditional means of
subsistence, their right to development, and their
sacred relationship with the land, water, and air.

We ask you, Governor Tommy Thompson, and
Department of Natural Resources Secretary George
Meyer to stop blocking attempts by Wisconsin tribes
to obtain or maintain TAS status. We oppose any
pressure on the tribes to give up their pursuit of
TAS status in return for gaming rights. We feel
that you are wrongly representing Wisconsin
citizens by vowing to sue the EPA when any tribe
successfully achieves TAS status, and by claiming
that only the state government has sovereign
authority over the air and navigable waters of
Indian reservations.

We particularly oppose your lawsuit against EPA
for granting TAS status in 1995 to the Mole Lake
Sokaogon Chippewa Community. The tribe is
attempting to protect its drinking water and
wild rice beds from the potential threat of acid
mine drainage and groundwater drawdown. We
feel that the lawsuit represents only the interests
of the Rio Algom mining company in opening its
proposed Crandon mine adjacent to the reservation.
The State of Wisconsin is attempting to prevent
one of its own communities from protecting its
clean water and cultural resources. The tribe's
wild rice beds are the mainstay of its ancient
cultural heritage, and should be a treasure
for all citizens of the state. Your legal action
singles out a small tribe that is at potential
risk from water contamination, and in doing so
fits the criteria of environmental racism.

We strongly feel that Wisconsin should initiate
a respectful government-to-government
relationship with tribes to protect our
common resources. In the 21st century,
we should not be repeating the cultural
genocide of the 19th century.

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b. Moratorium Example Mines Nothing Like Crandon, Critics Say;
Groups Call for Rule-Making to Stop Inappropriate Mines

Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 13:37:13 -0600
From: Wolf Watershed Educational Project <mtn@igc.apc.org>
Reply-To: mtn@igc.apc.org

Wolf Watershed Educational Project
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council
Mining Impact Coalition of Wisconsin

For immediate release-January 31, 1999

Contacts: Al Gedicks, Wisconsin Resources Protection Council,
(608) 784-4399 or 785-8457;
Dave Blouin, Mining Impact Coalition, (608) 233-8455;
Zoltan Grossman, Wolf Watershed Educational Project,
(608) 246-2256 http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wwep.html

State environmental groups today contended that three example mines
submitted on January 5 by Rio Algom, Ltd.'s Nicolet Minerals Co.
(NMC) do not meet Wisconsin's Mining Moratorium law's environmental test,
and do not prove that there has been a safely operated and closed
metallic sulfide mine. The groups say the law is being misused in a way that
could potentially allow inappropriate mines to meet the test, and called on
DNR to begin public rule-making for the law.

The Mining Moratorium Law, signed by Governor Tommy Thompson last May,
asked mining companies to demonstrate that existing technology could safely
mine metallic sulfide ores before any new sulfide mines could be built in
Wisconsin. NMC has proposed to build a 55-million-ton underground zinc,
copper, gold, and silver mine at the headwaters of the Wolf River in
northeastern Wisconsin. The groups also released profiles of each of the
mines submitted as "examples" for the Moratorium Law. (The profiles are
found below in this release. For background on the Moratorium law, see
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/mine-law.html )

The law's author, State Rep. Spencer Black, said that mining companies
would be required to offer an example of at least one North American
"example mine" that had operated for 10 years and been closed for 10 years
without causing pollution. The mine not only would have to lack legal
citations within its own jurisdiction, but would have to meet Wisconsin
standards as if it was located in the state. Black has criticized the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recent decision to accept
two mines--one open for 10 years but not closed for 10 years, and the other
closed for 10 years but not open for 10 years -- in order to meet the law's
criteria.

Shortly after passage of the law, DNR Secretary George Meyer had
said rules were necessary to implement the law. Since then, the DNR has
reversed its position on rules. "On two major issues associated with this law,
the DNR has changed its mind in ways that suit the mining industry," said
Blouin. "If Wisconsin citizens were not convinced before of the DNR's
pro-mining bias, this should end all doubt." The groups will urge concerned
citizens to demand that the Natural Resources Board immediately initiate a
public rule-making process.

"There is no question that the public expected to see an example mine
that had been both operated and closed cleanly," said Al Gedicks, executive
secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council. "NMC wants to
combine two of its example mines to somehow form one mine. The McLaughlin
mine in California has operated for 10 years, but has not yet closed. The
Cullaton Lake mine in Canada has been closed for 10 years, but only
operated for a short time. NMC's argument for these mines as examples is
deeply flawed." Of the three example mines submitted by NMC, only one--the
Sacaton mine in Arizona--has both operated for 10 years and been closed for
10 years.

Zoltan Grossman of the Wolf Watershed Education Project said,
"Perhaps NMC officials could forego a Florida vacation this year. Instead they
should travel to Death Valley for the warmth, and to Nome, Alaska for the
beaches. Together, these two spots meet the criteria of a single trip to the
sunny Florida coast."

The environmental groups also point out that the three mines bear no
resemblance to NMC's proposed Crandon mine in Forest County. The Crandon
mine would be built near clean tributaries of the Wolf River, at a site
with hundreds of acres of pristine wetlands, trout streams, pure drinking
water, and the Mole Lake Chippewa wild rice beds.

Dave Blouin, coordinator of Mining Impact Coalition, observed, "NMC's
own data shows that the three example mines are in dry or permafrost
areas where the types of water pollution of concern at Crandon are
physically impossible. Not one of them operated at a site with the
extraordinary amount of water that the Crandon mine would have to keep
clean. From a common sense standpoint, the example mines simply do not
offer any
lessons for us in Wisconsin."

Information on each mine submitted by NMC demonstrates that each
of the example mines is smaller, ran for a shorter time, and mined different
minerals in different rock than the proposed Crandon underground mine,
which has a very different massive sulfide geology. "Rio Algom could
not find even one of its own mines that has operated and been reclaimed
safely," said Gedicks. None of the three example mines used the proposed
technologies of the Crandon mine--such as backfilling the mine shaft with
sulfide wastes, the use of liner systems beneath tailings, grouting to
reduce water flow, or discharge of treated wastewater into the groundwater.

Zoltan Grossman, of the Wolf Watershed Educational Project, commented that
"If Rio Algom was really trying to act like 'good neighbor' it wants to
be thought of as, it wouldn't be insulting the intelligence of Wisconsin
residents. The company is more interested in getting its Crandon mine
permitted than showing realistic examples of operations similar to what it
proposes at
Crandon. It is clear that Rio Algom cannot find a genuinely safe metallic
sulfide mine, unless it bends the law with the DNR's help." He added that
environmental groups will continue investigating the environmental safety
of the three example mines.

PROFILES OF EXAMPLE MINES
(Data for the profiles are primarily from NMC's compliance
documents.)

SACATON COPPER MINE, ARIZONA

The Sacaton mine, operated by Asarco, Inc. on the Gila River Indian
Reservation 40 miles south of Phoenix, Arizona, was an open-pit
copper mine that operated from 1974 to 1984. It thus operated for just over 10
years, and has been closed for over 10 years. At Sacaton, Asarco mined copper
ore with only minor amounts of sulfides present; NMC compliance documents
show that the ore averaged between 1.5 and 4% sulfide content. At
Crandon, the ore averages between 40 and 50% sulfides and occurs as high as
75%.
At Sacaton, rainfall is scarce--about 8 inches a year--compared to more
than 30 inches a year near Crandon. The Sacaton mine did not discharge
waste water to any streams--taking advantage of desert evaporation--and very
little groundwater flowed into the open pit. The small amount of
groundwater at the site would not meet federal drinking water standards. At
Crandon, more than one million gallons per day of wastewater would be
dumped near Swamp Creek, above the Wolf River. In addition, Sacaton was
exempted from the state's groundwater protection law--passed two years
after it was closed--and so was never monitored by Arizona state
regulators. NMC contends that Asarco records would suffice to prove that
the mine would meet Wisconsin environmental standards, but
environmentalists reply that this claim relies on
potentially biased company data.

McLAUGHLIN GOLD MINE, CALIFORNIA

The McLaughlin open-pit gold mine in California, about 70 miles north
of San Francisco, was opened by Homestake Mining Co. in 1983; the mine has
operated for over 10 years but is not yet closed and reclaimed. The
McLaughlin mine does not discharge any wastewater--any excess water
evaporates, similar to what took place at the Sacaton mine. Also like at
Sacaton, the small amount of groundwater at the McLaughlin site does not
meet federal drinking water standards. McLaughlin uses "autoclaving"
(pressure cooking) to harvest the gold from the ore, resulting in tailings
which have their acid-generating potential neutralized. Without this
expensive process, the waste could generate acid, and the mine could not
economically operate. McLaughlin was granted an exemption from more
restrictive state mine waste siting requirements because it used the
autoclaving process, and because there was little clean groundwater to
pollute--neither factor would be present at Crandon. The 1000-foot-deep
mine pit does not intersect groundwater, and the tailings dump five miles
from the mine sits on top of a deep clay deposit in a semi-arid mountain
valley. Stormwaters have flooded holding ponds in past years, but the
state granted exemptions for the permit violations.

CULLATON LAKE GOLD MINE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

The Cullaton Lake gold mine site is owned by the Homestake Canada,
Inc. in Canada's Northwest Territories, in an area just north of Manitoba.
The area is due to become the new Inuit (Eskimo) territory of Nunavut on
April 1. Although the mine is closed, Homestake is still reclaiming the
site and closing the tailings ponds. At Cullaton Lake, the sulfides
averaged between 1 and 3%. The mine was underground in permafrost, where
groundwater was not
monitored because it was frozen and could not flow. At Crandon, in
contrast, estimates of the amount of water that will flow into the mine
range from several hundred to several thousand gallons per minute.
Cullaton Lake was in full production under different companies from 1982 to
1985--less than 10 years. Only about 383,000 tons of ore were processed at
the site; the Crandon proposal is projected to mine 55 million tons of
ore--and so extract more than 146 times more ore than at Cullaton Lake.
Six spills or leaks of tailings effluent and a diesel fuel spill were
reported at Cullaton Lake in the 1980s, including one tailings pond spill
that took place after the mine was closed. According to federal and
territorial officials quoted in the compliance documents, permafrost and
cold air temperatures are the factors expected to keep the tailings from
ever generating acid--factors that would not be found at Crandon. (The
compliance documents for this mine consist of territorial records
reassembled after a 1997 fire destroyed the originals, and do not yet
include any documents directly secured from federal agencies in Ottawa.)

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c. DNR acknowledges changing Mining Moratorium Law after it passed.

Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 09:56:55 EST
From: Burroak15@aol.com
Sender: owner-wisc-eco@igc.apc.org

Here finally is the news revealing how the Churchill Mining Moratorium Law was
mugged by DNR which changed the interpretation of the law after it had already
passed. Wisconsin residents who supported the moratorium bill expected that
the law would require a single mine that had both operated successfully for 10
years and been closed and reclaimed successfully for 10 years. Now DNR is
acknowledging that it changed its mind after the law passed under the threat
of being sued by the mining company and is supporting the interpretation of
the law that allows two mines to satisfy the law. This interpretation is also
extremely favorable to Nicolet Minerals Company.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online, January 26, 1998
Representative: Interpretation of law too easy on mining company
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The state's current interpretation of a law requiring
that companies provide an example of a pollution-free mine elsewhere is making
it easier for one company to build a mine near Crandon, a legislator said
Monday.
Nicolet Minerals Co., a subsidiary of Rio Algom Ltd. of Toronto, is seeking
state and federal permits to remove 55 million tons of copper and zinc ore
from a deposit about five miles southwest of Crandon near the headwaters of
the Wolf River.

The so-called "mining moratorium" law requires companies interested in
building a mine in Wisconsin to show a similar mine has operated in North
America for at least 10 years without polluting rivers, lakes, streams or
ground water. The company also must show that such a mine has been closed for
a decade with no signs of pollution.

At issue is whether the mining company can submit more than one mine to meet
both tests.

In 1997, the DNR indicated one mine must meet both requirements.

"For a mine to qualify as an example of sound technology, it must have been
operated a minimum of 10 years and closed another minimum of 10 years,"
Department of Natural Resources Secretary George Meyer said in an Oct. 3, 1997
letter to a state representative.

The DNR recently said the law clearly allows two mines to meet each leg of the
10-year test.

"Clearly, the DNR has changed their position 180 degrees to accommodate the
mining company, to make it easier for the mining company to obtain their
permit," said state Rep. Spencer Black, a Madison Democrat who helped write
the mining law.

==only the first paragraphs of the story are in this message, to get the whole
story go to:
<A HREF="http://www.jsonline.com/WI/990125representativeinterpr.asp">
Representative: Interpretation of law too easy on mining company</A>
or: www.jsonline.com/wi/ look for the link to the story there.

The Wisconsin State Journal carried a similar story today to what appears
above, but without the reference to the Oct. 3, 1997 DNR Sec. George Meyer
letter to a state representative acknowledging that a mine would need to have
both operated and closed safely to meet the Mining Moratorium Law criteria.

Dave Blouin, Mining Impact Coalition of Wisconsin
PO Box 55372, Madison, WI 53705-9172
email: burroak15@aol.com ph. 608-233-8455

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2. Wisconsin AP story on Rio Algom-owned B.C. mine shutdown

Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 18:21:41 EST
From: Burroak15@aol.com
Sender: owner-wisc-eco@igc.apc.org

Robert Imrie of the Associated Press has filed a story on the closing
of the Highland Valley Copper mine partially owned by Rio Algom (owner
of Nicolet Minerals and the proposed Crandon mine). The story can be
found on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online site at:
http://www.jsonline.com/wi/
Look for the title of the story (first few paragraphs below) and click on it
to get the full version.

Rio Algom mine in Canada shutting down due to low copper prices
<A HREF="http://www.jsonline.com/wi/">Journal Sentinel Online: News</A>
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online-1/24/99
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) -- A company seeking permission to dig a copper mine in
northern Wisconsin owns a one-third interest in a Canadian mine that closed
because of low prices on the copper market, officials report.

Dave Blouin, a spokesman for opponents of the proposed mine near Crandon,
called the price information a sign that mining companies cannot guarantee
their operations will provide long-term economic benefits.

Jobs of about 1,046 people were affected by the indefinite shutdown at
Highland Valley Copper in Logan Lake, British Columbia, an open-pit mine that
opened in 1972 and was expanded in 1983, officials say.

The employees averaged $25 an hour, mine general manager David Johnston said.

Rio Algom Ltd. of Toronto owns Nicolet Minerals Co. in Crandon and is one of
four partners in Highland Valley, which produced 170,000 metric tons of copper
last year.

Johnston said Highland Valley officials will work to open the mine again.
Critics of Rio Algom's project near Crandon say the Canadian mine's shutdown
provides evidence of negative things that could happen to a mine in Wisconsin.

"What it points to is the mining industry will never be able to promise that
any given project will remain as long as forecasted," said Blouin of the
Mining Impact Coalition of Wisconsin, based in Madison.

Please go to the journal sentinel website
<A HREF="http://www.jsonline.com/wi/">Journal Sentinel Online: News</A> for
the rest of the story. If the link doesn't work, go to:
http//:www.jsonline.com/wi/

Dave Blouin, Mining Impact Coalition of Wisconsin
PO Box 55372, Madison, WI 53705-9172
email: burroak15@aol.com phone: 608-233-8455

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