I have submitted two letters to the US Forest Service
Letter 1
I have worked in the mining industry for over 40 years in several engineering and management positions. I am opposed to the proposed withdrawal of mineral leases in the Superior National Forest. I attended the US Forest Service hearing in Virginia, Minnesota on July 25, 2017. It is my hope that the USFS panel does not consider the emotional and inaccurate testimonies from many of the anti-mining speakers. An old timer told a story about the Holden Mine contamination killing Lake Chelan fisheries in the state of Washington. I've done some research on this subject. Mark C. Nelson of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published What Happened to the Bull Trout in Lake Chelan? An Examination of the Historical Evidence in 2012. Mining was not mentioned once in this forty page report on the subject, as was implied by the storyteller. Over-fishing was the main cause of the Bull Trout demise. The closest thing to mining that was mentioned was the use of explosives by commercial fishermen. Mother Nature also had a hand in the Bull Trout demise. Floods caused by deep snow-pack and heavy rains shifted spawning beds in 1948. According to the State of Washington, fishing for native trout as well as stocked non-native species of fish is good to excellent on Lake Chelan. An advisory for pregnant women for DDT and PCB's is currently in affect. DDT contamination is the result of agricultural usage in area orchards. PCB's were used as a coolant and dielectric fluid in electrical apparatuses such as transformers and were banned in the US in 1979. The Holden Mine ran from 1937 to 1957. There was significant contamination to the land and Railroad Creek. However, the speaker failed to mention that the Holden Mine cleanup is a model example of corporate citizenship. Rio Tinto, a British mining company that acquired the Holden mine through a series of acquisitions and never operated that mine is paying for one hundred percent of the $200,000,000 plus mine site cleanup. No taxpayer money was involved. Mining practices, technologies and laws have advanced substantially since 1957. Think about it. The first digital computer was not built until 1942 (Atanasoff Berry Computer). In 1937 few families had telephones. Many of those having telephones were on party lines. The first TV transmission in the US was only one year old. Today, most people carry computers in their pockets called cell phones. Cell phones that now outnumber landline phones, would not be possible without mining copper, nickel and other precious metals, which are products of the proposed banned area.
Another storyteller told you to imagine having an 80-mile long continuous pit filled with contaminated water and enormous piles of slag dumping toxic water into the BWCA. The facts are: The Copper-Nickel-precious metals deposits are a series of igneous intrusions covering a length of about 30 miles and are not continuous like the sedimentary taconite formation. Not all of the deposits are in the same watershed as the BWCA; Most of the proposed mining will be underground; there has been no suggestion of smelters in the area producing slag, however tailings will be produced in the milling process and can be disposed of safely. He also said blasting would be heard in Canada. The Twin Metals mine will be an underground mine. Air blast and ground vibration are not issues with underground mining. Two doctors spoke about the health risks of mining copper. Do those living in mining communities have shorter life spans than those living in non-mining areas? The doctors should be celebrating that materials such as titanium will be made available, which are used in many of the life saving devices. They should also be touting the antimicrobial properties of copper and pushing the use of copper to reduce the spread of infections in their associated clinics and hospitals. Do they not realize that MSHA and mining operations monitor dust and require properly fitted respirators in areas of high dust exposure? The EPA requires mining companies to monitor and report fugitive dust as well. I listened to an Ely businessman saying that he pays a living wage to his 29 full time and 26 part time employees and claimed that his payroll was about $1,000,000. I did some math on this. If he has 29 employees working 12 months per year and the other 26 employees work four months per year, his hourly pay rate is about $12.57 per hour, or about $26,500 per year. According to many of the liberal politicians, $15 per hour is considered a living wage. The average mine employee earns at least two times that amount. Which worker can best provide for their family? I can tell you from experience that as a mining employee I was able to afford putting two children through college debt free, both achieving engineering degrees. Both are presently employed in the mining industry. Can someone working for a local outfitter do the same? I am guessing that they cannot. The land withdrawal would include 95,000 acres of Minnesota School Trust Lands. St. Louis County has 481,862 acres of School Trust Lands in Minerals properties, primarily taconite. Net revenues from that land provided a total of $139,916,479 for Minnesota schools from 2011 through 2015. Further more, this was during a depression in mining. The best year provided over $42,000,000 into Minnesota's education system.
I recently went to a local lumberyard and bought some pine lumber. I was surprised to see the Manufactured in New Zealand sticker on it. I also bought some stone veneer that was quarried in China. Both commodities could have been produced in Minnesota. All I could think of was that environmentalists talk about carbon footprints, yet they don't want anything produced in their back yards (NIMBY). Imagine the carbon footprint of the lumber and stone that was shipped half way around the world? Our dependence on imported metals is a national security issue. Platinum Group Metals (PGM's) are needed for pollution control, chemical processing, medical devices, computers, and many other items that we use in our daily lives. Eighty three percent of the platinum and 75 percent of the palladium world production came from Russia and South Africa in 2015. There is only one PGM mine in the US. Does our nation really want to depend on such countries for our supply of strategic metals? Only about one percent of the world nickel production comes from the United States. Most of the world's production comes from developing countries.
Rare earth metals are not part of the proposed mining ban. However, it is another example of our dependence on critical metals. Ninety Seven percent of the world's supply comes from China. Currently, there are no active rare earth mines in the United States. I am curtain that most of the groups opposing copper-nickel mining in Minnesota would also be opposed to rare earth metal mining in the United States. Some of the proponents of the withdrawal ask, what are the new safer methods of mining? They bring up mining operations that started operating before many of today's modern conveniences were even thought of. Technical advancements for everything we use are exponential. Equipment is more reliable. For example, the last vehicle I purchased has a 10,000-mile oil life. My old vehicle had a 3,000-mile oil life. You most likely carry a computer in your pocket. This is possible because of advancements in material science, improved manufacturing techniques and engineering advancements. Mining equipment, technologies and methods are advancing at the same rate as the advancements that affect your daily life. There are too many federal, state and local government agencies that are there to insure that mining is done properly. Often times, they are in conflict with each other. Some of these agencies want the revenues from mining. Others are opposed to mining. If mining can't be done in a safe and environmentally proper way, the agencies should share much of the blame. In conclusion, I oppose the proposed withdrawal of mineral leases in the Superior National Forest. It is shameful that the federal government has allowed companies to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in exploration, then for mostly political reasons, pulls the carpet from under those companies. This mining is needed for economic and national security reasons. In addition, banning leases will remove financially viable lands from local, state, and federal tax bases, which also puts a greater financial burden on already overtaxed taxpayers.
Letter 2
I am vehemently opposed to the proposed withdrawal of mineral leases in the Superior National Forest.
This proposed withdrawal is an over-reach of the Federal Government and also a result of Ex-President Obama's anti-mining stance. Even though the USFS proposed withdrawal is not part of the Antiquities Act of 1906, it is a result of political pressure from extremist environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society and the Friends of The Boundary Waters. President Obama designated or expanded 34 national monuments totaling 550 million acres of land, which is equivalent to over 16 million acres per monument and 65 percent of all designated lands. Prior to the Obama administration, the average designation was about 2.3 million acres. Originally, the average size of designations was only 422 acres. The Obama designations were done without consideration from state and local governments or congressional approval. They were clearly an over-reach of presidential power. The objective of many of the recent designations was to prevent mining, logging, grazing and energy development. The withdrawal actions are harmful to the future of local communities.
The USFS proposed withdrawal is also an overreach of the federal government. Why did the USFS allow mining companies to spend hundreds of millions of dollars for exploration and then attempt to block future development? Clearly, it is due to pressure from extremist environmental groups. Mining in Minnesota has significantly contributed to the economy of local, state and federal governments for over 135 years. Area schools were built from mining company revenues. Net revenues from Minnesota School Trust Lands provided a total of $140 million for Minnesota schools from 2011 through 2015 alone. Consider the income taxes and royalties generated by mining.
When does the federal land grab end? This mining can be done in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. The withdrawal of these lands would have a significant negative economic impact on local communities.