Groups want hearing on Michigan mine

Groups want hearing on Michigan mine

	Published : Tue, 30 Jan 2007 23:37 By : Agencies Print this Story

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AFX) - Environmentalist groups complained Tuesday that Lower Peninsula residents weren't getting a fair chance to sound off to state regulators over a proposed nickel and copper mine in the Upper Peninsula.

In a letter to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, a coalition of statewide organizations asked for a formal public hearing in Lansing.

The DEQ already has scheduled a hearing for March 6-8 on its proposal to let Kennecott Minerals Co. drill and operate the metallic sulfide mine in northwestern Marquette County. It will be held at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.

'People who live south of the Mackinac Bridge care deeply about the U.P. They have real concerns about a proposed mine that would degrade what many consider to be God's country,' said Andy Buchsbaum, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office in Ann Arbor. 'They have a right to be heard.'

The mine's potential implications for the Great Lakes makes it a statewide issue, said Lisa Wozniak of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. The DEQ's failure to schedule a Lower Peninsula hearing suggests 'that the DEQ and the governor are trying to push this permit through under the radar, without the public noticing,' Wozniak said.

DEQ spokesman Robert McCann said the agency had already taken considerable public comment on the mine and had planned the three-day hearing in Marquette to accommodate all wishing to speak. Those who cannot attend can submit written comments, which the DEQ will accept through April 5.

'The way our permit process works is the hearings are held in or near the community that's going to be affected by it,' McCann said. 'We have gone our of our way every step of the process to build in as much public comment as possible.'

The DEQ could make a final decision by early May on Kennecott's permit applications.

Company officials say the mine, which would operate six to eight years, would provide good jobs in the struggling central Upper Peninsula.

Opponents say it would pollute ground and surface waters -- including the Salmon Trout River, a Lake Superior tributary -- and spoil the serenity of the isolated Yellow Dog Plains region. Company officials say they would protect water resources.