In their preparations alone, Highland Copper has already been fined for violating permits and degrading wetlands.
At least one of the affected streams is home to an endangered species.
The data show that more than a third of all tailings dams are at high risk of causing catastrophic damage, and that, despite advances in technology, risk of serious failure is "increasing at a rate of twenty times every thirty years."
The development and operation of the mine will pose a real and significant threat to multiple Anishinaabe / Ojibwe resources including fisheries, water, and wildlife.
As we come to live on a hotter, drier planet — with wars being fought over access to water, with many American cities importing water from hundreds of miles away — Lake Superior represents 10% of the world's surface freshwater. In fact, by surface area, it is the largest freshwater lake on the planet.
There has never been a hard rock mine that didn't contaminate water, and Chopperwood would be the closest metallic sulfide mine to Lake Superior in history.
Let's be clear: the Porkies are not just any park. Last year, it was ranked by Yelp.com as "the most beautiful State Park in the country." It is the largest State Park in Michigan and one of the only State Parks in the country which has a designated Wilderness Area. Most importantly, the Porkies hold the largest tract of mixed old growth forest remaining in the Midwest.
Right next door, the Chopperwood Mine would desecrate this area with noise pollution, light pollution, air pollution, and subterranean blasts.
Contact the State Park today:
906-885-5275
Stretching 4,800 miles from North Dakota to Vermont, the historic North Country Trail is the longest of all point-to-point national hiking trails and a cornerstone of the natural heritage of this country. Unfortunately, our section of the trail which weaves through the Ottawa National Forest would be just a tenth of a mile from a 300+ acre waste-rock storage facility, as well as explosives plants, sewage lagoons, exhaust vents, and more.
Contact the the NCT today:
https://www.facebook.com/northcountrytrail/
Once, there was an Anishinaabe village at the mouth of the River, and it was on these very beaches where the French came to trade with the natives. Now we come to the banks of the Presque Isle to fish, to forage, and to enjoy its spectacular waterfalls — Nawadaha, Manido, and Manabezho, named for Anishinaabe manitous. Where the River waters meet the Lake, the swimming is pleasantly warm. In "the most beautiful State Park in the country," the Presque Isle Scenic Area is the crowning jewel.
But company maps suggest Highland Copper would drill under the Presque Isle River to extract copper from directly beneath old growth forest on Park property. Will we still go fishing and foraging, and will we still let our kids go swimming here, after acid mine drainage has taken its toll?
Just a tenth of a mile from the North Country Trail, Highland Copper has already rerouted streams and clearcut hundreds of acres to make room for its Tailings Disposal Facility, which will store 50+ million tons of toxic waste on topography that slopes towards Lake Superior.
TDFs are some of the largest manmade structures. No one hears abo
Just a tenth of a mile from the North Country Trail, Highland Copper has already rerouted streams and clearcut hundreds of acres to make room for its Tailings Disposal Facility, which will store 50+ million tons of toxic waste on topography that slopes towards Lake Superior.
TDFs are some of the largest manmade structures. No one hears about them until they go wrong, but when they do, the results can be catastrophic. The data show that more than a third of tailings dams are at high risk of causing catastrophic damage to nearby communities if they crumble, and a recent study concludes that, despite technological advances, "the risk of serious and very serious failures is increasing at a rate of 20X every 30 years."
The reason for this alarming trend?
A recent study concludes that: "the number of people exposed to contamination sourced from long-term discharge of mining waste into rivers is almost 50 times greater than the number directly affected by tailings dam failures." Why? Because even if the dam holds, there exists not just the risk but the certainty of acid mine drainage.
The
A recent study concludes that: "the number of people exposed to contamination sourced from long-term discharge of mining waste into rivers is almost 50 times greater than the number directly affected by tailings dam failures." Why? Because even if the dam holds, there exists not just the risk but the certainty of acid mine drainage.
The extraction of copper from chalcocite creates an enormous quantity of sulfides as a by-product. When sulfides combine with water and air, they create sulfuric acid, a.k.a. battery acid. This acid steeps over waste-rock like hot water over coffee, leaching out heavy metals into the groundwater and the waterways. When the sulfuric acid enters rivers and streams, it continues to steep over sleeping sediment, leaching out more heavy metals which until then had been contained. Mercury, arsenic, selenium, and lead: these compounds start in the water but they end up in the plankton, then the fish, then your dinner, then your blood.
Please remember: both fish and mushrooms are bio-accumulators of heavy metals. By introducing heavy metals into the environment, both in the form leached from waste rock / river sediment and as dust from the exhaust vents, we are permitting the sabotage of our own foraging and fishing.
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