Say NO to Toxic Mining on the Menominee River

Michigan's Menominee River | Photo: Tom Young

The Menominee River has some of the most spectacular hiking trails, rugged terrain, old growth forests, wilderness campsites and waterfalls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. However, a proposed open pit sulfide mine on the banks of the river would put the river at risk. The Menominee River is simply not the place for a risky mine. Tell the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to deny the Canadian mining company’s permit to develop a sulfide mine.

Sulfide mining contributes to more Superfund cleanup sites than any other mining activity. Sulfide mining is used to extract copper, nickel, and other metals from sulfide ores. The environmental risks are much higher than traditional ore mining because when rain falls on sulfide ore waste, sulfuric acid is produced. That sulfuric acid leaches out as acid mine drainage, which can contaminate lakes, rivers and groundwater.

The proposed mine would pose a significant threat to the cultural and natural resources of the Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region. Groundwater, rivers and ultimately Lake Michigan would become contaminated if acid mine drainage were to seep into surface and groundwater, posing a significant danger to fish and other aquatic life.

Take action

Please urge the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to reject the pending wetlands permit and prevent the establishment of the proposed Back Forty mine.

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Director

Heidi

Grether

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)

Acting Regional Administr

Robert

Kaplan

EPA Region 5

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I am writing to urge you to reject the pending wetland impact permit submitted by Canadian-owned Aquila Resources Inc. that would create the Back Forty Project in Menominee County, Michigan. The proposed open pit metallic sulfide mine located adjacent to the Menominee River would pose a significant threat to the natural and cultural resources of the entire Great Lakes region. Specifically, there would be an imminent threat of sulfuric acid leaching harmful heavy metals including copper, cadmium, arsenic, lead and mercury, and creating acid mine drainage. Groundwater, rivers, and ultimately Lake Michigan would become contaminated if acid mine drainage were to seep into surface and groundwater, posing a significant danger to the regional economy, residents, fish and other aquatic life.

The largest watershed in the Upper Peninsula, and one of the largest within the Lake Michigan Basin, the Menominee River and its tributaries drain over 4,000 square miles in Michigan and Wisconsin. The river provides habitat for walleye, pike, trout and lake sturgeon, and the small mouth bass fishery is regarded as one of the best in North America. The Menominee provides critical natural and economic benefits to nearby communities in both Michigan and Wisconsin. The river is particularly important to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, who revere the river as integral to their creation. Sacred burial mounds are within the footprint of the proposed mine site.

It is due to the serious environmental and cultural threats posed by the Back Forty Project that American Rivers has listed the Menominee River as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2017.

I stand with eight Native American Tribes, the Superior Watershed Partnership, American Rivers, numerous local and regional conservation and community organizations, as well as the thousands of concerned residents that oppose the proposed mine. Please consider my request to deny Aquila’s pending wetland permit application (Parts 303, 301, 31), and prevent the creation of the Back Forty mine.

Thank you for your consideration in this important matter.

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