there are many camps in the area of the Eagle Project, that get there drinking water from the "spring hole" where the salmon trout crosses triple A Rd, I am one! this water is good water, no boiling required. Would the suits at kennecott be willing, or better yet make it a condition to get their drinking water there also for the duration of the entire project. if this type of minning is so safe I DON'T SEE A PROBLEM THERE FELLAS ??????? WE HAVE FOR 40 YEARS NO SIDE EFFECTS...YET!!!!!

the worried ones @ yellowdog plains, michigan

This is a nickel mine. Why do you (TV-6, and everyone else) insist on calling it a sulfide mine?

Right on "Bill Ford"

hush...... hush.......

The mining laws in Utah, are as different as night and day compared to Michigan's new mining laws that have been carefully crafted to protect our resources. Unless we put trust in are our elected official's that they will pull the plug in the event Kennocotts does not live up to their end of the agreement. we will never know if the system will work. Give it a chance. Give Powell Township a chance!

http://www.healthsentinel.com/org_news.php?id=128&title=Learning+and+Developmental+Disabilities+Linked+to+Environmental+Toxins&event=org_news_print_list_item

When all things that are need today are taken now you leave YOUR CHILDREN NOTHING.Thats the bottom line.The state of michigan is owened by everyone.Yes jobs are slim to find,but who do you blame?YOUR TEAM IS ONLY AS GOOD AS IT'S LEADER,AND IF YOUR LEADERSHIP FAILS SO DOES YOUR TEAM.Your children are the reason you should be concerned not IT'S ABOUT ME THINKING.THE AREA I LIVE IN IS TERRIBLE.Avoid this dollar and change thinking.You may very well have the last great piece of land left.My father would tell me if you can't feed them then don't breed them.Sounds very hard but he said you don't have that kind of time to baby your feelings.Treasure what you have and protect it.THATS YOUR CHILDRENS FUTURE.THERE IS NO AMOUNT OF MONEY CAN BUY MY CHILDRENS FUTURE UNLESS THEY PROFECT FROM IT.IT'S THERE FUTURE NOT YOURS.

The Salt Lake valley is a huge high-desert valley bordered on the east by the Wasatch Mountain range and bordered on the west by the Oquirrh Mountain. Kennecott has operated what used to be the largest open-pit mine in the world on the west side of the valley since 1906 in Bingham Canyon. Kennecott's operation extends from one end of the valley to the other. Their operation ends in the north on the shores of the Great Salt Lake with a massive smokestack visible all over the valley which overlooks their enormous tailings pond that borders a neighborhood of a suburb of Salt Lake City.

Ignoring what the smokestack contributes to the valley's air quality (old folks and kids are warned regularly during the winter to stay indoors it gets so bad) as the ore is processed, Kennecott has concealed for decades structural weakness their tailings pond used in processing the ore has but instead went on a massive campaign to cover it up while they continued to add to and expand the tailings pond. It's only from the light of the press being shined on the story that the dangers to local residents and the coverup is being exposed. Frank Joklik was CEO of Kennecott at the time and orchestrated most of the coverup but he's since "forgotten" the details. You won't recognize his name outside of Utah but he was the president of the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee during part of the time the big international scandal unfolded. Mitt Romney took over after Joklik was forced to resign and saved us all, but you can have Mitt back.

On the south end of the valley, Kennecott has recently begun selling homes on property they own in a massive residential community to take advantage of Utah's housing industry (which has been relatively insulated from the rest of the nation for now). It's unconfirmed, but widely rumored, that the new housing development is on "reclaimed" land that was filled with waste material from the mine over the years.

Mining is an important industry but if the area that Kennecott is wanting to operate in isn't already marred by mining but instead an area you'd rather not have polluted, keep a suspicious eye on Kennecott. Despite their videos of deer running through newly planted pine trees, if you turn the cameras around you get a whole different vista here in Utah.

Kennecott is a major employer in Utah and Utah isn't particularly good at protecting the environment and our lawmakers cozy up to the Kennecott executives for free tickets to see Utah Jazz games regularly so not a lot of environmentally friendly laws get passed here. Be sure your lawmakers have your state's best interest in mind rather than their own when Kennecott is coming to town.

I wonder if Cherry, the same Kennecott manager for Eagle Project was on that Kennecott management team re: Magna UT in 1988.

Look at this group-

www.citizensforresponsiblemining.org

talk about spin..... prob the same people submitting the wonderfully mindless editorials on MJ-

quote:

"The Eagle project will not concentrate or refine their ore like White Pine did, only crush it and ship it. They will mine 1,500 tons per day."

Yeah, ship it to Humboldt....

"About 50 acres of land will be impacted at Eagle".....

whaaaaaaaaaat??? last time I checked, over 200 acres are to be fenced off for 30+ years from the public..

feel free to peruse their site and pick out other gems....

Wow- Eye opening to say the least....

comments from the Magna UT article:

"Kennecott's management team huddled every Friday afternoon for more than a year(1988) to deal with the problem. Then-President Frank Joklik ordered a cover-up to avert "panic and suits."
Joklik's strategy included:
* Buying homes covertly in the Bells' neighborhood, a subdivision east of downtown Magna called Green Meadows Estates;
* Tallying the company's legal liability by assigning a dollar figure to the lives of men, women and children who might die if the impoundment failed;
* Launching a 30-year, half-billion-dollar
modernization to stabilize the Magna tailings pond, and
* Colluding with state regulators to keep the frightening engineering reports out of the public eye."

And yet, there are those that continue to have you believe we need Kennecott in our community.

This ain't about mining science and how technologically advanced sulfide mining has become. This is about ethics, greed and evil.

Since March 23rd, 2008, and through today, 3/25/08, The Salt Lake Tribune (in Utah) has been running a several-part, well documented, investigative reporting on Kennecott Utah Copper--and their deception and cover-up of a potentially disastrous situation for the public in Magna, Utah and its environs.
It would only be fair to have also found some Marquette County reporting on this potentially dangerous situation as regards Rio Tinto/Kennecott--and their recent presence in Marquette County.
For those of you who haven't read these very recent articles, have a look at: www.sltrib.com/ci_8687376 Although there has been mention of these recent articles by others on this blog, it appears that the local media in Marquette are reluctant to even mention this important information. I think it's time to reconsider whether our local news sources are really being objective in regard to Kennecott's metallic sulfide mining plans for Marquette and Baraga Counties--and the needed transparency and truthfulness (versus only rhetoric) of Kennecott's public information and its continued lobbying in Lansing.
At this point, the "credibility gap" in regard to what Jon Cherry (who actually served as "Manager of Environmental and Governmental Affairs" at Kennecott Copper in Magna, Utah, prior to arriving in Marquette County to become "Project Manager" for Kennecott Eagle several years ago) says, versus what their real plans are, as well as potential pollution in the UP, I question. It is time for all of this to be carefully re-assessed. I do not believe, given all of the information that I have found concerning Rio Tinto/Kennecott, that we can trust their "promises"....I hope that the Michigan DNR and DEQ, as well as the Federal EPA/Region 5 Office in Chicago, will reconsider any plans and rhetoric that Kennecott uses to seek permits for their potential metallic sulfide mining in the UP. And alsi take the time to learn (as I have) and really recognize Rio Tinto/Kennecott's negative, past record elsewhere. This is not what we need in the UP!
Let's not give up our forestlands and watersheds for some brief "profiteering" by non-American corporations, selling our strategic minerals to China, and leaving us with (as in Utah) a seriously diminished and damaged environment and watersheds.

Can the contested cases be appealed once Michigan sides with Kennecott?

If this Utah story is any indication, then it doesn't look like the Upper Peninsula water and wilderness has a chance.

And Governer Granholm says she's doing what's best for the residents of Mqt Co. and all those that care about our public recreational lands....

Hmmm. this Utah thing is verrry interesting, indeed.

It is very sad that people are so selfish that they would trade a short-term job for environmental damage that will be around long after they are dead and buried. 50 years from now when there is a dead river polluting the largest body of fresh water on earth will anyone really care that you had a job for 8 years?

and to think we are dealing with the world's largest fresh water source only 15 miles away!

I was also undecided, but this did it.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8687376

Thanks for the link. I was on the fence before but now my feet are firmly planted. Read the article and you'll see where I stand.

Hey, Let's Dig In,

I don't think you want to get into an argument of comparing Kennecott's environmental "awards" to their dismal track record of environmental damage.

Likewise, with comparing the amount of jobs lost in tourism/recreation and the rest of the economy dependent upon tourism to a few mining jobs, with whom most of the workers will be imports anyway.

You lose on both fronts.

Open YOUR eyes, Marquette has been getting designation after designation about how wonderful a city it is to live in,, and this is directly based on the clean natural wilderness and that remains around it.

There is nothing like this region in the US or the World for that matter. Please, don't take what you have for granted, then one day find that it has been mined over and fenced off, developed.. We are not facing one project, but many many ones on the successful implementation of Kennecott "Eagle Project". This area will become a successful boom and bust town just like the other well known ones in this region once our beautiful clean public lands are no longer.

Big news breaking in Utah over Kennecott's(and State of Ut) alleged silence on a potential Kennecott mine tailing accident impacting the town of Magna, UT:

link:
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8687376

quote:
But, although they(Kennecott) won't give specifics, they say they're encouraged with an alternative north-south route that would be on the west side of the county."

Encouraged by what?

Isn't this the new road that Kennecott will uneccessarily build through undeveloped wilderness so they can have less expense, more profit in trucking rock to Humboldt?-

The same road they didn't disclose to the public before the permits were issued?

And Humboldt, site of a processing facility that was also undisclosed to the public during the permit process?

Before Kennecott had permits in hand, this rock was to be transported out of Mqt Co to Canada for processing, reducing environmental impact to the area.

So much for Kennecott and their "transparency" with the public.

Mike B,
Thanks for the link. A story everyone should read- pro or anti Kennecott.

I find the statement in the article,

And current Kennecott President Andrew Harding, who has been on the job for four months, did not try to explain Kennecott's past actions.
"All I can do," he said, "is apologize for the history."

Classic. Will this be the same statement issued by Kennecott when the Yellow Dog Watershed becomes an acidic mess after some unforseen accident or flood?

Looks like the same relentless people that caused the shut down the MJ forums have migrated over to TV6 forums, now that Kennecott's people can't spew their inflamatory pro mine propoganda on MJ anymore.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8667373?source=email

I find it fascinating that the environmentalist wackos can stop oil drilling and production in the US because it may screw up our environment. We need oil, we need gas, we have plenty of our own right here. But we can't drill in the US. So we buy foreign oil at very high prices.

BUT, these same environmentalists can't stop the mine in the Yellow Dog Plains when this mine is much more volitile than an oil well. Volitile to our clean water which the nation seems to be running low on.

We need affordable gas to fuel our cars to go to work. For the risks involved, we don't need this mine.

I dont see how 100 jobs is going to help out the UP in a big way. Seeing that it is only going to be here for 8 years scewing up the environment.

concered citizen

I don't know how blind you people can be. We really need this mine to go. We need the employment, 100 new jobs is better than 100 less!! Open your eys, I have been through that area many times, I have never seen any wildlife, any hunters, any fisher people (dont want to apprear biased) however I do see lots of ATV's and big 4 wheel drive trucks, and GARBAGE, I don't think it is anymore prestine than anywhere else. Kennecott has won awards for their enviromental cleanliness, unlike those people that toss their trash out their windows and finding easier to toss their furniture in the bush. I am all for this mine and the jobs it creates, however many or few. I think you tree huggers should go back to where you came from.

Most cci miners hate the company they work for.They think everyone is out to get them.I hear it everyday.What the anti miners say doesnt mean a thing.They just dont like to work or see anyone else work.

When it comes down to it, the iron mines of mqt county are much different from the mining Kennecott plans to do. You can still be against the Yellow Dog mine and for the iron mines of the UP.

All of the people saying the jobs are the biggest factor and that it will cause a boom in the state....get real. Even the less than 100 jobs they are promising will never create a boom. You need the thousands of jobs that cci continues to provide.

Some of the proponents of the mine may not have majored in English, but from what I can tell most of the opposition doesn't have a very good understanding of math, chemistry or geography. Where exactly are you coming up with 1/4 of the UP watershed? How do you know it will be destroyed? Remember, Cynthia Pryor doesn't count as a scientific reference. All around Lake Superior are examples of sulfide mines that did not or have not caused Acid Mine Drainage. White Pine did not cause AMD. Lac Des Isles, which is near one of the other coaster spawning streams on the Nipigon River, has not leached acid and destroyed the watershed. There are others including Ropes and some sulfide gold mines in Ontario that have not leached acid into Lake Superior. All of these mines have been on a far larger scale than Eagle. The fact is they didn't cause AMD because the process is far more complicated than the people opposed to this mine want to let on. It's much easier for the opposition to scare people into opposing the mine if they can convince them that AMD is a simple process of air+water+sulfur= acid and immediate destruction for everything. In the real world it's a bit more complex and as shown by the mines around Lake Superior far from a guarantee.

The U.P was built on mining and logging. Why is it that the minority always control the majority? We need good paying jobs here in the U.P. and this mine will provide that for some time and the jobs coming off of this mine will be an impact as well in the communities.. It wil effect all businesses in the area and will be an economic boom to the whole state.
Mining today is not like in the past where everyting is devastated in and around the surrounding area of the mines. The moron who commented on the Kennecot Mine who works for CCI cannot be this vocal amongst the people he works with or works for or he would be fired. Who provided you with this good paying job in the U.P. and for you to be against mining is a travesty when you are currently working for one making a very good salary.
We need jobs in the U.P. and this mine and its other operations will provide that. The housing market will definitely benefit from it which we need in these tough times.

A few errors Pro Mine. Plus, I think you forgot about 100 commas.

"If not you probably work for another mining company that has caused more pollution could possibly cause."

"I sure hope these mines do come through so common folks can earn your education system some subsidies and hopefully help their kids rise to your lever, the educated elite."

Thanks for bashing CCI. I work in a mine that has a large footprint but isn't destroying a quarter of the UP's watershed. I don't care what you do if you own the land, just make sure it doesn't creep out in to land that isn't yours.

I like your comment about the Co-Op as well. You make it sound like only anti-Kennecott citizens eat healthy. Maybe that comes back the previous comment about making good decisions for long term life. Either way, I can feel good about my choices and how it affects my children's children.

Hello, Mr. Miner against Kennecott look down here on planet earth. I understand you may have an education and seem to be much better of a human being than the most of folks posting on this story.

I'm guessing you are an employee of CCI. If not you probably work for another mining company that has caused more pollution could possibly cause.

I know the educated love facts so I'll give it a shot. Pull up goggle earth and look at the foot print of the Tilden and Empire. Now (I hope your still with me) the Kennecott Mine footprint will be one square this is one section of land (you can find the size in a plat book) mine all above mining operations will take place in that area. I take that back some milling will take place at the Humboldt Mill which Kennecott will clean up from a prior mining company.

If you are an employee of CCI I sure hope you don't talk to your fellow workers in this manner. Most of these common folks have barely a high school education and probably can't even write a complete sentence.

I sure hope these mines do come through so common folks can earn your education system some subsidies and hopefully help their kids rise to your lever, the educated elite.

Happy blueberry picking. By the way how much is a membership to the Marquette Food Co-op this year?

I ain't the smartest guy but I know enough that we should protect our resources.

He said it. Sadly, it does have some truth to it.

I wanted to say the same thing for a long time but didn't want to be crucified for it. I couldn't agree with you more.

Either study up the rare area we have in northern Marquette County, or get out and enjoy the one true thing the UP has to offer. Isn't that why a good majority of us are here? Or wait, maybe it's poor education that hinders us to get better jobs. I would like to think the former, but that's all up to you.

It's hard for me to see eye-to-eye with a good majority of the people who are posting positions in favor of the mine when they can't even type a proper sentence. It seems to me that a good majority of those in favor of the mine don't have a quality education. If they can't spell, how do they expect me to even reason with their thoughts on this Eagle Project? I'm not saying everyone for it has poor education because obviously the people in charge have received high quality schooling, but it seems that the "common folk" posting for it just lack the communication skills with the English language.

I can't even come to terms with the folks who are calling people who want to keep one of the last pristine places in this state nut jobs.

IN THE END: 100 or less jobs for 8 years is not worth the risk of destroying something so precious to save a few households. The land will be here forever, you won't be. Stop being selfish!

The UP Needs this Mine especially now that they have added 100 Milling Jobs at Humboldt that will definately be Local People. Wake up and see that if they get the permits they will open and no BS lawsuits will stop it. Like it was said all of you probably have jobs. I have one and it's a Mining job. Others should be able to have them too

Lets get real people. You have a great oportunity to bring in ecconomic growth here.What will it take for you to realize that you need this mine. The T-bay inn has already closed what next Cram's & the lumberjack?

As far as jobs go, Big Bay is no different than any small town anywhere. The people who want to work do. In my experience, those whine the loudest about high unemployment are usually those who are least likely to seek jobs. How many times must it be repeated that Kennecott will only offer a few temporary low paying jobs. Remember they are non-union. They have the worst environmental record on earth. The overwhelming majority of local residents do not want the mine. And to the fellow who claims he cannot feed his family, try harder. A Big Bay land owner

It seems like both media in this town MJ/TV6 take any opportunity to sway the Kennecott story through their headlines in the direction that the mine has been approved. Far from it. MJ, not suprising. Come on TV6, please stay unbiased on this issue.

There has been tremendous opposition to this mine.
Petitions of doctors, professors,local and national environmental groups supporting a wide population of people. Look how many storefronts in Marquette County have a "NO SULFIDE MINE" sign in their front window. The majority of people have spoken and said no to this project. Kennecott has not listened, like they said they would.

Common sense is all it takes to understand, you don't put a mine under one of the most pristine watersheds in the Upper Midwest, home to one of the last breeding grounds of coasters. Very bad idea, indeed.

I hope the Miner's hurry, Powell Township need's work. I can't even feed my kids, the Wolf;s have eaten all the deer. Is their anybody out their listening? The people filing the law suits have Jobs. Why shouldn't We!

Not so fast. See yah in court, Mr. Cherry.