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DFL lawmakers seek suspension of PolyMet permits

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 7/25/19

REGIONAL— Gov. Tim Walz is continuing to face pressure to set aside state permits issued to PolyMet Mining over concerns that the process used in issuing those permits was flawed. This week, that …

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DFL lawmakers seek suspension of PolyMet permits

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REGIONAL— Gov. Tim Walz is continuing to face pressure to set aside state permits issued to PolyMet Mining over concerns that the process used in issuing those permits was flawed. This week, that pressure took the form of a letter to the governor signed by 18 DFL members of the Legislature urging the governor to suspend permits, issued by both the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Natural Resources, that have cleared the way for the planned copper-nickel mine, located near Hoyt Lakes, to proceed.
The lawmakers say they want the permits suspended until a number of investigations, including ones by the EPA’s inspector general and Minnesota’s legislative auditor, have been completed.
Those investigations are examining revelations that top officials at the MPCA discouraged EPA professional staff from submitting written comments critical of the NPDES (water discharge) permit that MPCA issued to PolyMet late last year.
“We need to recognize that this flawed process resulted in flawed permits,” the lawmakers concluded.
The letter cites three major new developments that the legislators believe merit a reexamination of the permits. Those developments include:
“• The discovery that agencies involved in the permitting process failed to seriously address both EPA concerns and those raised by their own consultants, preventing the rigorous analysis needed,
• The tragic dam collapse, and the subsequent decommissioning of other mining dams in Brazil similar to the proposed PolyMet tailings dam, showing the folly of approving such a risky system in Minnesota, and
• The recent news that a corporation as irresponsible as Glencore now holds a majority of PolyMet shares, making it clear that the sham “financial assurance” required of PolyMet will leave Minnesota taxpayers financially responsible for the expensive cleanup.”

Teddy Tschann, spokesperson for Gov. Walz, said the governor takes the legislators’ concerns seriously, but declined to indicate whether the governor would address their concerns more substantively. “The NPDES permit is currently being reviewed in court, and he believes that process should continue,” concluded Tschann.

This week’s letter, signed mostly by metro-area legislators, also urges modification of the DNR’s permit to mine to require an alternative method of tailings disposal, such as dry stack disposal, rather than the reuse of the existing LTV tailings basin near Hoyt Lakes. The lawmakers are also seeking modification to the financial assurance provisions in the permit, to ensure that Glencore is financially tied to an eventual cleanup of the site. “Because PolyMet is unable to provide the appropriate damage deposit, the DNR must have an iron-clad requirement that Glencore, now majority owner of PolyMet, be held liable for all cleanup costs by providing a full up-front damage deposit,” wrote the lawmakers.
Finally, the legislators say they want a public health impact study, which the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians and the Minnesota Nurses Association have already called for publicly.
“Sulfide mining releases toxic chemicals into the environment, and we should listen to the medical experts who believe the health impacts from the mine must be studied,” concluded the lawmakers.

The letter from legislators came in the same week that a coalition of 25 environmental groups called on Attorney General Keith Ellison to investigate the financial connections between PolyMet Mining and Glencore.
While the letter from lawmakers cheered opponents of the PolyMet project, supporters were sharply critical.
“This is so classic that the opposition groups who are behind this letter are doing exactly what we anticipate them to do,” said Nancy Norr, chairperson of Jobs for Minnesotans, a PolyMet supporter. “They’re trying to create further delay in the process, because delay kills projects.”
"It's disappointing that metro Democrats are spreading misleading and false information about the environmental review process in an effort to derail this project,” said GOP House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt. He promised to draft his own letter, which he said will include a more “geographically diverse and bipartisan” group of lawmakers.
In a statement PolyMet said “Multiple internal and external reviews, along with unprecedented public comment opportunities, have occurred on all aspects of the project, and it has been determined that PolyMet meets or exceeds all factors of safety.”
Minnesota Public Radio contributed reporting for this story.