KBIC, Kennecott to talk – From Mining Journal
http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/543915.html?nav=5006
Article in the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-pryor/a-sacred-fire-is-burning_b_567652.html
Miigwetch to A.K.
From ICT:
As the spirits whispered through the towering pines on 40 mile per hour winds atop sacred Eagle Rock, American Indian warrior Levi Tadgerson said, “you can feel our relatives and the spirits with us.”
He stood on the cliff’s edge looking out upon northern Michigan’s Yellow Dog Plains for another approaching storm – literally and figuratively – as Tadgerson’s fellow warriors are trying to stop an international mining giant from destroying the site where Ojibwa ceremonies have taken place as long as elders can remember.
In late April, Kennecott Eagle Minerals began site preparation work for its sulfide mine called the Eagle Project. The entrance to the nickel and copper mine will be built at sacred Eagle Rock.
“We are defending the water, we are defending our treaty rights and our right to practice our culture,” said Tadgerson, who describes himself as “an Anishinaabe man who loves and respects the environment.
“We’re defending our right to live a healthy life and have our kids live a healthy life.”
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and numerous environment groups are worried because sulfuric acid is a byproduct of sulfide mining plus several companies have announced plans for dozens of similar mines.
Kennecott says environmental protection is a major concern, but opponents say the way the company has operated other mines doesn’t show it.
From Interlochen Public Radio:
Kennecott Minerals wants to change the way it releases treated wastewater at its Eagle Rock Mine near Marquette. Instead of covering filtration pipes with soil, Kennecott wants to use thick Styrofoam insulation around the pipes.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment calls it a minor modification, but it may mean the company won’t need a federal permit. If pipes are covered with soil the EPA considers that an underground injection system.
A spokeswoman for the National Wildlife Federation says a federal review would give more attention to tribal issues. Indian tribes maintain that blasting an opening for the mine will degrade a traditional sacred place at Eagle Rock. The state dismissed that argument in granting Kennecott a permit. The Wildlife Federation plans to appeal that decision in Circuit Court.
Turtle Talk 