Great Lakes Article:

Mine not worth risk to Lakes
By William G. Milleken
Detroit Free Press
Published May 16, 2007

No resource is more important to Michigan's future than the Great Lakes. Any action that could threaten the quality of the lakes must be approached with extreme caution.

That is why the people of Michigan should be very concerned about a proposal to blast a nickel mine in the Upper Peninsula under the headwaters of the Salmon Trout River, one of Lake Superior's primary tributaries.

The mine being proposed by Kennecott Minerals Corp. would be much different from the iron ore mines that have existed in the UP for decades. It would involve blasting into underground sulfide ore deposits that contain nickel; sulfide ores leach acid as soon as they come in contact with water or air.

Underground water seeping into the mine would create sulfuric acid, resulting in acid mine drainage that would run off into rivers, contaminate groundwater and end up in Lakes Superior and Michigan.

The top of the proposed mine is level with the aquifer closest to the surface that connects with the Salmon Trout River, which adds to the threat that the river could become contaminated.

The material loosed in the blasting process would be hauled out by trucks, an estimated 80 loads per day. Each truckload would spill sulfide ores along its way, creating more acid contamination.

The proposed mine also poses the threat of air pollution, with a system that would vent air through a 50-foot tall stack, releasing an estimated minimum of 20 tons per year of dust containing sulfides and metals only 300 feet from the Salmon Trout River.

Beyond that, geologists say that because of the huge hole that would be created underground by the blasting operations, there also is the real threat that the river would collapse into the mine at some point.

The state Department of Environmental Quality, after discovering a consultant's report was not made public, has suspended the mine permitting process. An independent study released Tuesday cleared department employees of intentionally trying to mislead the public, but the permit remains on hold while the DEQ commissions an independent expert review of the geological questions involved.

The area of this proposed sulfide mine is right in the middle of the largest undeveloped tract in all Michigan. Its rivers and streams feed Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. What a terrible threat this poses -- and all for a mine that has a projected life of seven to eight years and could create at most 100 jobs. When the mine closed, we would be left with the potential for severe environmental damage and no jobs.

If Michigan were to allow this mine to set up shop, we would be carrying out a modern-day equivalent of the biblical story of Esau selling his birthright for a "mess of pottage."

We made great progress in the latter decades of the 20th Century reversing the old mind-set of exploiting our natural resources and cleaning up the mess at a later time.

Unfortunately, the Great Lakes face more threats today than ever before. Let's join all our voices with those of the citizens of the Upper Peninsula who are determined to protect their environment and the Great Lakes. Let's tell the DEQ in no uncertain terms we don't want this mine.

WILLIAM G. MILLIKEN was governor of Michigan from 1969-82.