POLYMET

PolyMet joins forces with Canadian company

Staff reports — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 20:43:48 GMT

HOYT LAKES, Minnesota — A pair of operations with nearly half of the known copper-nickel holdings on the Iron Range joined forces Wednesday, when Minnesota-based PolyMet and Canadian-owned Teck Resources announced a joint venture, NewRange Copper Nickel.

The agreement will place each companies' copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum resources under single management, with plans to further develop PolyMet’s proposed first copper-nickel mine on the Iron Range, referred to as the NorthMet mine.

Teck’s holdings are tied up in what is known as the Mesaba Project. The resources measured to date between the parties consist of 795 million tons for NorthMet, and 1,740 million tons for Mesaba, with combined estimated resources almost double that.

As part of the deal, Swiss mining giant Glencore will retain its majority equity interest in PolyMet.

Jon Cherry, PolyMet chairman, president and CEO, hailed the news as the creation of a global leader in Minnesota, one that he said was capable of delivering a supply chain for clean energy technologies.

“This extraordinary venture links the expertise, experience and financial resources of PolyMet, Teck and Glencore to develop the NorthMet mine when the remaining permit proceedings are complete, and study the mine development options for Mesaba,” said Cherry in a news release Wednesday. “The total assets of the NorthMet and Mesaba deposits make this one of the largest clean-energy mineral resources in the U.S. and globally.”

As part of the deal, Glencore committed to funding PolyMet’s portion of costs and expenses up to $105 million, said the news release.

Cherry noted what he called “synergies” created by joining forces. Also, independent financial advisers sought by PolyMet reportedly said the transaction would be "fair" from a financial point of view. Cherry cited Teck’s strong balance sheet.

“This joint venture will benefit all our shareholders,” Cherry said. “The successful completion of this transaction is expected to more than double the resources attributable to PolyMet shareholders.”

The transaction was unanimously approved by the PolyMet board.

PolyMet is in the process of bringing its proposed mine through federal and state environmental review processes and a federal land exchange. The NorthMet mine has received nearly two dozen state and federal permits necessary to build and operate a 32,000 tons-per-day mine and processing facility outside Hoyt Lakes. Three permits are pending final resolution to reach project approval, the company said.

According to the news release, Teck’s Mesaba Project is progressing baseline environmental studies, resource definition and mineral processing studies.

“Further studies and community and tribal consultation will be required to fully define long-term development potential,” the news release said.

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EPA recommends Army Corps not reissue PolyMet permit

Jimmy Lovrien — Tue, 03 May 2022 18:58:48 GMT

DULUTH — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommended the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers not reissue a key permit for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine over concerns that it could violate Fond du Lac Reservation’s water quality standards.

The Army Corps suspended PolyMet’s Section 404 permit, which allows PolyMet to discharge dredged and fill material into over 900 acres of wetlands, in March 2021. It remained on hold after the EPA in June 2021 determined PolyMet “may effect” the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation 100 miles downstream from the proposed mine near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt.

The EPA’s recommendation came Tuesday, the first day of a three-day public hearing on the permit held by the Army Corps.

"EPA’s key recommendation is that the Corps should not reissue the CWA (Clean Water Act) Section 404 permit for the NorthMet project, as proposed,” the EPA said on its website. “As the NorthMet project is currently designed, there are no conditions that EPA can provide to the Corps that would ensure that the discharges from the CWA Section 404 permitted activities would comply with the Fond du Lac Band’s water quality requirements for its waters.”

However, the EPA said the permit and/or the project could be changed to meet the Clean Water Act requirements.

“EPA’s recommendations do not foreclose any future modifications to the permit application or the NorthMet project design,” the EPA wrote in its 47-page evaluation. “Any future modifications should include meaningful involvement of the Band and Minnesota to ensure compliance with both tribal and state water quality requirements.”

In a news release Tuesday afternoon, the Fond du Lac Band said the EPA's recommendation was a "victory for the Band's efforts to protect its waters from unacceptable pollution that threatens their culture and way of life."

Fond du Lac Chairman Kevin Dupuis Sr. said in the release: "It has taken a lot of time and dedication to get where we are today, and we appreciate EPA for taking a robust and meaningful look at our objection which is grounded in science. It is no surprise that EPA's recommendations agree with our long-standing concerns."

In an email, Paula Maccabee, counsel and advocacy director of environmental group WaterLegacy, said the recommendation was “a landmark triumph of tribal stewardship and the EPA’s allegiance to science and law to protect Lake Superior basin waters and environmental justice.”

Bruce Richardson, a spokesperson for PolyMet, stressed that it was only a recommendation from the EPA and said the company will present evidence that the company believes the federal agency did not consider.

“We strongly disagree with the EPA’s recommendation. Importantly, like the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa that initiated this hearing, the EPA has disregarded the science-based conclusions in PolyMet’s Environmental Impact Statement and permitting decisions that we will reduce mercury and sulfate loading to the St. Louis River watershed,” Richardson said in an email to the News Tribune.

PolyMet is proposing the state’s first copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt. The open-pit mine and processing facility would sit in the St. Louis River Watershed. The Fond du Lac Band fears potential pollution from PolyMet, namely sulfides and mercury, would damage its wild rice and other resources. The St. Louis River runs along the reservation’s eastern border and through Fond du Lac Band’s tribal land.

Fond du Lac in 2019 sued the EPA because the agency never notified the band on whether the project "may affect" its waters. The band argued it should have because under the Clean Water Act, the band is considered a state and was entitled to the same kind of notification and objection process.

A federal judge, and later the EPA's Office of Inspector General, agreed.

The EPA then found the project “may affect” Fond du Lac, a determination that allowed the band to object to the permit and require the Army Corps to hold a hearing on the band's objection.

The three-day public hearing is underway and being streamed at the “MVP Public Affairs” YouTube channel.

Members of the public can comment via audio teleconference from 4-9 p.m. Thursday. The Army Corps directed people wishing to make a verbal comment to its website, mvp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices, for more information.

Written comments may also be submitted electronically by June 6 to USACE-PolyMet-401a2@usace.army.mil.

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EPA union urges Minnesota Supreme Court to take up PolyMet case

Duluth News Tribune — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 00:33:36 GMT

DULUTH — The union representing many midwest employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to take up a PolyMet case challenging the proposed copper-nickel mine's water permit.

The American Federation of Government Employees Local 704 and other groups filed briefs urging the court to reconsider a January decision by the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirming a 2020 decision by a State District Court judge who said the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency broke no laws or procedures by asking the EPA to keep comments on the permit private. It acknowledged such a move was made to prevent comments from reaching the public and leading to "bad press."

In 2019, AFGE Local 704 said it learned from a whistleblower that comments by the EPA Region 5 office in Chicago on a draft of PolyMet's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, were left out of the public record.

“Simply put, when a government agency acts in secret — or deliberately obscures its motives or reasoning — it becomes difficult to tell whether the agency’s actions were lawful or fair," the union wrote in its brief.

A separate EPA’s Office of Inspector General in April 2021 said the federal agency failed to follow its own procedures by reading the comments over the phone to the MPCA instead of in writing, which kept the comments, including concerns, private.

The Court of Appeals' January decision also sent the water permit back to the MPCA to determine whether any releases to groundwater should be federally regulated.

PolyMet is hoping to open Minnesota's first copper-nickel mine near Babbitt and Hoyt Lakes. Supporters say the project would bring much-needed jobs to the region and can be done in an environmentally safe way, but environmental groups fear it could pollute waterways.

AFGE Local 704 was joined by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Public Records Media, Minnesota Coalition on Government Information, Minnesota Well Owners Organization and two administrative law professors in filing briefs. The groups have asked to be "friends of the court" if the Supreme Court takes up the case.

The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Center for Biological Diversity, WaterLegacy and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are already parties to the case and have also asked the Supreme Court to review the case.

The Supreme Court is expected to determine whether it will take up the case by June.

PolyMet faces several other ongoing lawsuits.

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Environmental groups, Fond du Lac Band sue federal agencies over PolyMet land exchange

Jimmy Lovrien — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 23:44:52 GMT

DULUTH — Environmental groups and an Indigenous band filed lawsuits challenging federal agencies over their approval of a land exchange with PolyMet.

In 2018, the company exchanged 6,900 acres of its land for 6,500 acres of U.S. Forest Service land where it plans to build its open-pit copper-nickel mine.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, a coalition led by the Center for Biological Diversity argued the Forest Service relied on a flawed 2016 biological opinion by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that said the land exchange would not harm the Canada lynx, which is considered a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

The Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S Army Corps of engineers were named in the complaint.

Marc Fink, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the News Tribune that a provision under the Endangered Species Act requires agencies restart consultation in the face of new information.

He pointed to the plight of the another threatened species: the northern long-eared bat, which have been devastated by the white nose syndrome. The News Tribune in 2019 reported a cave in Tower's Soudan Underground Mine saw a 90% drop in population just six years after the disease was first found in the cave.

"By the time the biological opinion was prepared, the white nose syndrome had not made its way to Minnesota yet," Fink said. "Numbers have really plummeted since then."

The Center for Biological Diversity was joined in the lawsuit by Save Lake Superior Association, Save our Sky Blue Waters, Friends of the Cloquet Valley State Forest and Duluth for Clean Water.

Separately, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa on Monday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Minnesota against the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture. The band said potential pollution from the project would impair its treaty "right to hunt, fish, and gather throughout" in the area it ceded to the federal government in 1854.

The band said that when the U.S. acquired the land in 1935, it was under the Weeks Act, which was meant to protect the headwaters of the St. Louis River.

"The Weeks Act only authorizes the Forest Service to exchange the Federal Land if the land to be acquired is 'chiefly valuable' for the purpose of 'regulation of the flow of navigable streams or for the production of timber,'" the band wrote.

The band asked the court to declare the land exchanged violated federal law and to "vacate and set aside the Forest Service’s approvals of the Land Exchange and the Land Exchange itself, including related regulatory and real estate transactions associated therewith."

Bruce Richardson, a spokesperson for PolyMet, said the company was reviewing the complaints and intended to participated in the lawsuits.

PolyMet is planning an open-pit mine, tailings basin and processing facility near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt. The mine would be the first of its kind in Minnesota, but a number of its permits continue to face legal challenges.

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Court: Regulators must consider groundwater discharge in PolyMet permit

Jimmy Lovrien — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 20:16:27 GMT

DULUTH — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday sent a water discharge permit for PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mine back to state regulators to determine whether any releases to groundwater should be federally regulated.

In the opinion, written by Judge Matthew Johnson, the three-judge panel remanded the project’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit back to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency because the agency originally failed to weigh if the Clean Water Act should apply to pollutants discharged from the project reaching groundwater.

The Clean Water Act prohibits the release of pollutants without a permit.

“We conclude that the (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) erred by not properly considering whether the federal Clean Water Act applies to any future discharges from PolyMet’s facility to groundwater,” Johnson wrote.

Johnson wrote a 2020 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court “clarified that the (Clean Water Act) also applies to discharges of pollutants from a point source to groundwater, if the discharge ‘is the functional equivalent of a direct discharge’ to navigable waters.”

PolyMet is planning an open-pit mine, tailings basin and processing facility near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt. The mine, which would be the first of its kind for the state, would sit within the Lake Superior watershed.

Plans call for water that seeps from the tailings basin to be captured, treated and released into three creeks that flow, via the Embarrass, Partridge and St. Louis rivers, into Lake Superior.

However, it may not capture everything.

Johnson noted that while PolyMet said there would be no discharges to groundwater, the MPCA’s “record indicates that some underground seepage — even if minimal — is expected.”

Though the NPDES is part of the Clean Water Act, a federal law, the state’s MPCA issues and enforces the permit with the Environmental Protection Agency serving in an oversight role.

Most parties in the case considered the decision a victory.

“For a second time, a Minnesota court has firmly decided that the MPCA’s permitting processes for the PolyMet project were rigorous and prudent," Darin Broton, a spokesperson for the MPCA, said in a statement. "While the agency reviews the court’s directive to complete additional analysis that wasn’t required prior to the permit’s issuance, the MPCA appreciates the court’s strong decision that the extensive 479-page water permit for PolyMet is protective of Minnesota’s waters.“

Opponents of the mine were quick to celebrate the decision.

“Once again the courts have rejected a PolyMet permit,” Kathryn Hoffman, chief executive officer of Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, said in a statement. “The agency obviously has more work to do to protect Minnesota's waters and communities from the serious risks of sulfide mining.”

But PolyMet, in a news release, said the court’s decision affirmed six of the seven issues at hand and that the one remaining issue — sending the permit back to the MPCA — wasn’t a big deal.

“This will mean a little more process, but it gives us a clear road map to the reactivation of this permit,” Jon Cherry, chairman, president and CEO, said in the release.

Chris Knopf, executive director at Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, said it was “good news” that PolyMet still can’t move forward, but acknowledged several other issues in the decision that the group was considering appealing to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

“There are disagreements and concerns that we have with the Court of Appeals’ decision that we respectfully disagree with,” Knopf told the News Tribune.

The Court of Appeals also on Monday affirmed a September 2020 decision by a State District Court judge who said the MPCA broke no laws or procedures by asking the EPA to keep comments on the permit private, but acknowledged such a move was made to prevent comments from reaching the public and leading to "bad press."

Johnson wrote in Monday’s opinion that although the court did not need to determine whether those procedures were lawful, he said “the district court’s key finding bears repeating.”

In his own words, he wrote: “The PCA’s efforts to discourage the EPA from providing written comments during the public-comment period had the purpose and effect of avoiding or minimizing public criticism of the proposed permit and, in addition, avoiding the need for the PCA to publicly respond in writing to the EPA’s comments.”

Separately, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General in April 2021 said the federal agency failed to follow its own procedures by reading the comments over the phone to the MPCA instead of in writing, which kept the comments, including concerns, private.

Additionally, the court said the MPCA did not err in denying a petition by mine opponents calling for a contested-case hearing and said the agency did not err in issuing a permit with “operating limits” to regulate pollutants in the water before being discharged. It also rejected the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s claims that said construction and operation of the mine would damage its water-quality standards. The Fond du Lac Reservation sits 70 miles downstream from the proposed mine site.

More than three years after PolyMet received its permits, a number of them remain tied up in legal challenges.

The project’s permit to mine is currently going through a contested-case hearing and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to hold a hearing on the project's Section 404 permit, which allows PolyMet to discharge dredged and fill material into over 900 acres of wetlands, after the EPA determined it “may affect” the downstream waters of the Fond du Lac Reservation.

The MPCA last month stood by its air permit and insisted any potential mine expansion would not be possible without the company going through the permitting process again when it released additional analysis required by the Court of Appeals. PolyMet characterized the decision as “reactivating” its air permit.

Last week, several environmental groups appealed that decision, asking the Court of Appeals to review it again.

On Saturday, Duluth politicians and environmental group leaders signed a petition asking the state to hold a hearing on the safety of PolyMet’s upstream tailings dam. Signatures included state Sen. Jen McEwen, D-Duluth, and St. Louis County Commissioner Ashley Grimm. Duluth city councilors Roz Rondorf, Gary Anderson, Mike Mayou and Azrin Awal also signed the petition.

Opponents are expected to hold a rally Tuesday at the Minnesota State Capitol to again ask Gov. Tim Walz to “move on” from PolyMet.

This story was updated at 5:28 p.m. Jan. 24 with a statement from Minnesota Pollution Control Agency spokesperson Darin Broton. It was originally posted at 2:16 p.m. Jan. 24.

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Other View: Let's refocus government on the public's well-being alone

Arne Carlson, Tom Berkelman, Janet Entzel, Chris Knopf and Duke Skorich — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 13:00:00 GMT

Today, we are at a crossroads. On one hand, we have the growing threats of climate change which threaten us with fires, droughts, and violent weather. On the other, we have government that is increasingly being captured by special interests which, as a result of the 2010 Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United, are able to flood the campaign coffers of incumbents.

Here in Minnesota, legislative caucuses of both parties have fully embraced this new wealth. In 2020, the caucuses went into the campaigns with more than $26 million. If this were to be averaged out evenly between the 201 members of the Legislature, the amount available to each incumbent would be a staggering $130,000. And this is money only from the caucus and does not include funds from the party or contributions to candidate committees.

This, along with partisan staffs that match or exceed those of political parties, certainly gives incumbents a huge re-election advantage.

But it comes at a cost to the public. A recent study by two professors at the Humphrey �� of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota concluded that generous donors were accorded special treatment by legislators, including being able to “shape“ legislation.

We fully agree that money influences policy. For two legislative sessions, we have repeatedly petitioned the governor and Legislature for hearings on legislation designed to protect the waters of Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Time and again, we pointed out the dangers of allowing the PolyMet and Twin Metals projects to become reality. Others petitioned for answers to Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline project, which even the Minnesota Department of Commerce declared was not needed. At no point was there any apparent willingness of elected officials to hold legislative hearings or respond to legitimate inquiries. The governor and legislative leaders simply stonewalled. We could not even get an answer as to why a request was denied from Minnesota’s health community for a health study of the drinking waters that would be affected by seepage from the mines.

We pointed out the record of international corruption and environmental damage caused by the foreign corporations which own PolyMet and Twin Metals. We further noted the appalling lack of safety involved with Enbridge’s Line 3. We lauded the governor of Michigan for taking decisive action in ordering an Enbridge pipeline project across Lake Michigan to close.

Here in Minnesota, though, we have been unable to even get a legislative hearing — while big-money donors are able to “shape“ legislation.

Many legislators will say this is not “pay to play.“ If it’s not, then please tell the public what it is.

All of us have a responsibility to play a role in our governance. We must engage and engage now before it is too late. We cannot allow the forces of greed and the short term to convert public assets into private gain. Our quality drinking water is our most valuable and essential asset. It must not be for sale.

We can begin by adopting a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on Minnesota’s constitutional officers and legislators. Caucus fundraising also must be abolished along with partisan staffs and replaced by a system that provides robust public funding for campaigns, as is done elsewhere.

As authors of “The Future is Today“ ( thefutureistoday.info/), we welcome a broad public debate on our entire series of recommendations, allowing us to build a government that is focused on the long-term well-being of the public — and only on that.

Arne Carlson was governor of Minnesota from 1991 to 1999. Chris Knopf is executive director of the St. Paul-based nonprofit Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness (friends-bwca.org). Tom Berkelman was a DFL state representative from Duluth from 1977 to 1983. Janet Entzel was a DFL state representative from Minneapolis from 1975 to 1984. And Duke Skorich is president of Zenith Research Group in Duluth.

This column first appeared in our sister publication, the Duluth News Tribune.

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Court: DNR must set term — in years — on PolyMet dam, hold hearing on effectiveness of dam liner

Jimmy Lovrien — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 19:53:41 GMT

DULUTH -- The Minnesota Supreme Court ordered state regulators to set a lifespan on the tailings basin for PolyMet, which is hoping to build Minnesota's first copper-nickel mine, and hold a new hearing on the effectiveness of the dam's liner. The decision upheld a lower court's decision to reverse the permit to mine for PolyMet.

The court also said regulators were right in denying additional hearings on a batch of other issues, reversing part of the lower court's ruling.

In a 48-page decision released Wednesday, Justice Natalie Hudson said the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources erred in not setting a fixed term, or lifespan, for the project's proposed basin, which would hold the tailings — the fine pieces of waste rock left over after the rock is crushed and stripped of marketable metals like copper, nickel, cobalt and other metals. Environmentalists fear sulfide within the tailings will react with oxygen, form acid and then seep into the environment.

A term — in years — must be set by the DNR for the time it takes for the company to finish mining and reclamation or restoration work on the basin, Hudson wrote.

RELATED:

EPA inspector general: Agency should've shared PolyMet permit concerns with Minnesota regulators in writing, not over phone Audit also faults EPA for not consulting Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa over potential downstream pollution concerns.

Potential new owner in talks to save North Dakota's largest coal-fired plant North Dakota officials have made saving the power plant a top priority, and Thursday's announcement marks a big step in the year-long process aimed at salvaging the plant.

The decision also said the DNR must hold a contested-case hearing, which puts the issue in front of an administrative law judge to examine additional evidence and testimony, on whether a bentonite liner in the basin would effectively prevent oxygen from contacting the tailings and creating acid, the type of pollution environmentalists fear most with copper-nickel mining.

Hudson wrote that while DNR claimed bentonite "has been tested" and "will be effective," its descriptions and "conclusory statements" did not actually include scientific analysis.

"There is no analysis of the scientific basis for the DNR’s assumptions," Hudson wrote. "Further, the single study on which nearly all the DNR’s findings of effectiveness rely is not in the record."

Environmental groups and opposed to PolyMet called the decision a "win."

"The decision underscores the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) failure to scrutinize what would be the first sulfide mining operation in the state, and signals an important change in how mining permits will be viewed by the courts in the future," the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Friends of the Boundary Water Wilderness, Center of Biological Diversity and WaterLegacy said in a joint news release Wednesday.

However, the court reversed much of a 2018 Minnesota Court of Appeals decision and said the DNR had the discretion to deny contested-case hearings on the project's use of upstream dam construction; financial assurances; whether Swiss mining giant Glencore, which took a majority stake in PolyMet after it received its permits, should be named on the permits; and alternatives to the "wet closure" tailings storage method.

Additionally, the Supreme Court said the Court of Appeals was wrong when it reversed the project's dam safety permits over issues in the permit to mine.

PolyMet, which also considers Wednesday's decision a "win," said the decision only results in further review for "one specific, narrow issue."

"The court’s unanimous decision affirmed the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ discretion to deny contested case hearings and, importantly, affirmed its decision to deny contested case hearings on every issue raised by project opponents, save one: the effectiveness of bentonite clay capping for eventual closure of the tailings basin," the company said in a news release.

The DNR said it would "carefully review and implement the Court’s instructions" on setting a term and holding a contested case hearing on bentonite.

"We appreciate and respect the Court’s careful evaluation of issues related to the DNR’s first application of Minnesota’s non-ferrous mining statute and rules … The Court found ample evidence in the permit records to support the DNR’s decisions on the critical issues of dam safety and tailings basin closure," the DNR said.

PolyMet has proposed an open-pit copper-nickel mine, processing plant and tailings basin near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt. A number of its other permits remain on hold amid numerous legal challenges to the project.

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Rep. Pete Stauber introduces bill to speed up federal mining reviews

Jimmy Lovrien — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 18:56:20 GMT

DULUTH — U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber introduced a bill that would speed up the federal permitting process for mining projects on federal land.

The bill would require permitting to finish within two and a half years, prevent "duplication" of work by federal agencies if it's already done by a state agency and set performance standards and other timelines to track permitting agencies.

In a news release Thursday, Stauber, R-Hermantown, said it targets "the most burdensome regulations that have delayed good mining projects for years." Two pro-mining organizations — National Mining Association and Mining Minnesota — expressed their support in the release.

“For too long, activist groups have been able to hijack the permitting process, leaving our workers sidelined to wait for high-quality jobs," Stauber said.

Two of those environmental groups on Thursday discounted Stauber's legislation.

Chris Knopf, executive director at Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, called it "legislation as a press release."

"This legislation will go nowhere in Congress," Knopf said in an interview. "But what Congressman Stauber is signaling is he's really a willing stooge of foreign mining interests."

In a statement, Tom Landwehr, executive director of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, called it "a stunt to fast-track risky mining next to the Boundary Waters."

Opponents of copper-nickel mining fear pollution from the mining projects would seep into nearby waterways.

In Minnesota, the bill, if passed, would affect Twin Metals, a proposed underground copper-nickel mine, processing facility and dry-stacked tailings facility along the shores of Birch Lake, which flows into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness via the Kawishiwi River.

The project, which sits on several federal mineral leases, has been under review by state and federal regulators since December 2019.

Several other companies have explored for minerals within the Superior National Forest but have not announced plans for mines.

PolyMet, which faces numerous court challenges, is vying to be the state's first copper-nickel mine. It sits outside the Superior National Forest and has no federal mineral leases, so its permitting process was handled primarily by state agencies.

The bill — coined the "Accessing America's Critical Minerals Act" — is the second bill introduced by Stauber during this year aimed at moving mining projects forward. In January, Stauber introduced a bill that would prevent the president from barring mining on federal land, a move the Obama administration used on Twin Metals in the final days of its administration. The bill was referred to the the subcommittee on conservation and forestry in February.

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Minnesota Supreme Court issues mixed opinion on PolyMet's air permits

Jimmy Lovrien — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 21:50:57 GMT

On one hand, the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday, Feb. 24 reversed a lower court's decision that would have sent PolyMet's air permits back to state regulators for further review.

But on the other, it instructed a lower court to review whether PolyMet, which is trying to open the state's first copper-nickel mine, deceived the regulators by withholding a report outlining the potential for a much larger mine.

Both opponents and supporters of PolyMet claimed victory in Wednesday's Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Margaret Chutich.

Central to the case is whether a report released by PolyMet in March 2018 — 10 days after the air permit's public comment period ended — outlines the company's plans to recover 118,000 tons of ore per day instead of 32,000 tons per day — the amount listed by the company in permit applications.

The air permits, issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in December 2018, allow the company to release 250 tons of regulated pollutants per year, but opponents say the company would exceed that limit if it were to recover more ore and called the permits an example of "sham permitting."

In reversing the Minnesota Court of Appeals' March 2020 decision, Chutich wrote the MPCA did not need to go back and consider the potential for sham permitting as the lower court had instructed.

Chutich wrote the MPCA "was under no federal obligation to investigate sham permitting" during the permitting process and that the lower court had "relied on an erroneous interpretation of federal law" when it sent the permits back to the MPCA in March.

In separate statements, PolyMet President and CEO Jon Cherry said Wednesday's reversal "is another big win and a major step forward in the defense of our air permit," while an MPCA spokesperson said it "appreciates the court’s thorough review of the air permitting process for the PolyMet facility."

Meanwhile, environmental groups celebrated the court sending some of their claims back to Court of Appeals to review whether PolyMet's report for potential larger mine "undermined" the MPCA's conclusion that the company "will … comply with all conditions of the permit" and if the company "failed to disclose fully all facts relevant" and “knowingly submitted false or misleading information to the (MPCA).”

“Today’s ruling underscores that the entire process by which PolyMet obtained its permits in 2018 may have been deceptive and allows us to make this case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals,” Kathryn Hoffman, CEO of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, said in a news release Wednesday.

PolyMet is planning to build Minnesota's first copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt. While supporters say it would operate safely and bring much-needed jobs to the region, opponents, which include environmental groups and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, say the project would risk sending toxic pollution into the St. Louis River Watershed, which empties into Lakes Superior.

The MPCA has defended the air permit, saying it believes the company could viably operate at the 32,000-ton-per-day limit. It has also said PolyMet's report was "entirely speculative."

The release of the report shortly after the comment period ended was "just a coincidence," a PolyMet attorney said in November oral arguments.

Wednesday's decision meant the air permits are no longer on hold. The permits had been on hold — or stayed, or paused — since the Court of Appeals decision in March 2020.

A number of other PolyMet permits remain on hold amid ongoing court cases.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is also reviewing PolyMet's permit to mine and dam safety permits. It could issue a decision on that soon.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals is reviewing the project's water permits.

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PolyMet, MPCA appeal air-permit decision

Jimmy Lovrien — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 00:46:18 GMT

DULUTH — PolyMet and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency are appealing last month’s Minnesota Court of Appeals decision that sent air permits for PolyMet back to the MPCA for review after the court said the agency should have considered a report that said the company, which is trying to open Minnesota's first copper-nickel mine, is eyeing a much larger operation.

In separate news releases Tuesday, April 21, PolyMet and the MPCA said they would file petitions for review requesting the Minnesota Supreme Court consider overturning the lower court's decision.

The Court of Appeals in March sided with environmental groups arguing a report released by PolyMet in March 2018 outlines the company's plans to recover 118,000 tons of ore per day instead of 32,000 tons per day, the amount listed by the company in permit applications. The air permits, issued in December 2018, allow the company to release 250 tons of regulated pollutants per year, but opponents say the company would exceed that limit if it were to recover more ore.

MPCA spokesman Darin Broton said the Court of Appeals did not assess the agency’s written findings appropriately and was wrong to use material outside of the administrative record for its decision.

"The MPCA’s air permit was issued based on science and facts, not speculation and rumors," Broton said. "Throughout its extensive permitting process, the MPCA scrutinized PolyMet’s emissions calculations and used public comments to require the facility to have substantial new recordkeeping and monitoring requirements in the final permit. The MPCA is asking the Supreme Court to uphold the agency’s permit and its process that was developed and reinforced with science and facts."

PolyMet said the Supreme Court should clarify when the Court of Appeals can require an agency to make additional findings and if the court "can presume without evidence that an agency will not enforce its permits."

"The Court of Appeals’ decision creates regulatory uncertainty that could have far-reaching, negative implications for businesses seeking permits in the state,” Jon Cherry, PolyMet president and CEO, said in a release.

Aaron Klemz, spokesman for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, one of the groups opposed to PolyMet, said he's confident the Court of Appeals decision will stand.

"It’s ironic that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is joining PolyMet the day before Earth Day in an attempt to reinstate PolyMet’s air pollution permit," Klemz said in an email to the News Tribune. "The Court of Appeals remanded this permit to the MPCA to ensure that PolyMet isn’t avoiding stronger air pollution standards by misrepresenting its true plans. MPCA should investigate this issue and tell the truth."

PolyMet, which is looking to build an open-pit mine, tailings basin and processing facility near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt, faces numerous legal challenges.

The Supreme Court has already said it will hear challenges to a January decision that sent PolyMet's dam-safety permits and permit to mine back to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and ordered a contested-case hearing on the permits.

Separately, the company's national pollutant discharge elimination system, or NPDES, permit, which regulates water discharged from industrial activities, remains on hold after an August order by the Minnesota Court of Appeals after it was revealed the MPCA requested the Environmental Protection Agency refrain from commenting on a PolyMet draft water permit until the public comment period ended.

In March, Glencore, PolyMet's majority shareholder, issued PolyMet up to $30 million in unsecured convertible debentures (long-term debt issued by a company that can be converted into stock after a period) to help fund PolyMet's legal battles.

On Tuesday, Cherry said PolyMet "remains determined and confident that it will advance its copper-nickel-precious metal mine on the Iron Range."

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