Feds deny renewal of Twin Metals leases

REGIONAL— The Obama administration has dealt a potentially fatal blow to Twin Metals’ proposal to build a copper-nickel mine near Ely. Top officials in the Department of the Interior and Agriculture announced last Thursday that they will not be renewing two federal mineral leases that are critical to the project.

The decision is a major victory for a broad coalition of environmental groups that have fought an organized effort to stop the proposed mine, that would have been located within a major watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Becky Rom, an Ely resident and chair of the Coalition to the Save the Boundary Waters, said she was elated with the ruling, but acknowledged that her organization’s fight continues. Twin Metals has mounted a legal challenge over the rights of the federal agencies to deny renewal of their mineral leases, so this week’s decision likely won’t be the final word.

Even so, supporters of the mining proposal expressed dismay at the decision. Eighth District Congressman Rick Nolan called it a “slap in the face and a punch in the gut,” by Washington bureaucrats. “This decision denies Minnesota’s Iron Range the opportunity to explore a project in the area that would bring thousands of new, greatly-needed jobs to our region,” he added.

Ely Mayor Chuck Novak said he was “extremely disappointed and he questioned the legal basis for the decision. At the same time, he said the determination “wasn’t a surprise.”

But not every Minnesota political leader was disappointed. Gov. Mark Dayton, who had lobbied for denial of the mineral leases, called it “tremendous news” in a statement issued shortly after the announcement. “It is important to note that this decision is not in opposition to mining, but in defense of a pristine and priceless environmental wonder,” he said, in reference to the Boundary Waters.

Two decisions

In addition to its decision not to renew the two federal minerals leases sought by Twin Metals, the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the federal mineral leasing program for the Department of the Interior, also announced a two-year moratorium on the issuance of any new mineral leases on about 234,000 acres of the Superior National Forest located within watersheds that feed into the 1.1 million-acre BWCAW. During that period, federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and the BLM will conduct an environmental impact study of the effects of a 20-year withdrawal of those lands from the federal minerals program.

“The Boundary Waters is a natural treasure, special to the 150,000 people who canoe, fish, and recreate there each year, and is the economic life blood to local business that depend on a pristine natural resource,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who oversees the Forest Service. “I have asked Interior to take a time out, conduct a careful environmental analysis and engage the public on whether future mining should be authorized on any federal land next door to the Boundary Waters.” The review process will invite participation by the public, Indian tribes, environmental groups, industry, state and local government, as well as other stakeholders.

The BLM will review the withdrawal application and issue a notice in the Federal Register to segregate the lands – essentially, place them in a ‘time-out’ – for up to two years. During that time, the federal government would not accept new mineral exploration or development applications. A 90-day initial public review period will begin once the moratorium decision is published in the Federal Register. Should the BLM decide to withdraw the lands, it can only do so for a period of up to 20 years. Only Congress can legislate a permanent withdrawal.

Lease decision

Federal officials say that environmental concerns proved key to their decision to deny renewal of two longstanding federal mineral leases located along and near the South Kawishiwi River, in some cases within shouting distance of the wilderness boundary.

“It is well established that acid mine drainage is a significant environmental risk in a water-based ecosystem like the Boundary Waters because contaminated water could have dramatic impacts to aquatic life, sport fisheries, and recreation-based uses and communities,” stated federal officials in a release issued by the Department of the Interior.

“There’s a reason that the Boundary Waters is one of the most visited wilderness areas in America: it’s an incredible place,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “Today’s best available science is helping us understand the value of the land and water and potential impacts of development in places like the Boundary Waters. This is the right action to take to avoid irrevocably damaging this watershed and its recreation-based economy, while also taking the time and space to review whether to further protect the area from all new mining.”

The BLM originally issued the mining leases in 1966 to the International Nickel Co., or INCO, and has renewed them twice before. Under the original lease, the leaseholder has the right to seek three ten-year renewals, but the lease also required that actual mining commence within a set time limit, long since past, or the leases could be cancelled.

Twin Metals, which holds the expired leases, has applied for a third renewal of the permits and has argued that the renewal is “non-discretionary.” But the attorney for the Department of the Interior determined this past spring that the company has no automatic right to a renewed lease. That question is at the heart of a legal challenge that Twin Metals filed in September. A final decision in that case could take years.