Lets close the tilden and empire for a year or two and see if the U.P. can survive, I dont think so.First of all we can count on layoffs at the hospitals,department stores,exc. Maybe NMU would shut down to, or maybe the only thing that would be left open would be walmart because that would be the only place us (non wealthy) people could aford. Lets all start selling ice cream cones to the people that just pass through, maybe we can sell two or three a day to make a living. Better yet we might as well shut down the paper mills and lumber mills in the area the we can curl up in a ball and rot away with the trees. Something that just might happen in this enviromentalist country.

Sudbury Canada Nickel Mine:
http://www.hummerguy.net/wp
content/nickelmineSudbury.jpg

I traveled through Sudbury, Canada last summer. The town is known as a mining center within Ontario. On the train ride I could actually tell I was getting closer to Sudbury because the rocks became more barren & black and the trees became more sparce and scrawny.

I encourage Channel 6 to continue their investigative reporting by traveling to communities that host nickel mines using sulfide extraction. Maybe if people actually see what happens they might properly weigh the cost against the benefits.

This is no iron ore mine; and this is not an idealogical war; we all must take careful consideration before blaming "hicks" for killing the environment or "treehuggers" for halting ecomonic progress. Our natural environment is our economy, and once lost, it will be irretrievable during our lifetime.

There is no getting around it the sulfide mines are coming and they won't be stopped . They will pull BILLIONS out of the ground here and leave a toxic mess behind . So why not spend our efforts in urging the state to renegotiate these mineral contracts and get the most out of these companies . Why not get 35 or 40 percent of the take from the mines . They will destroy the UP forever . Why not make them pay while they are here? In Alaska they don't pay taxes they get a check . Why not here in the UP ? MAKE THEM PAY !

Recently I commented on the mine and said be careful in supporting it, it may be in your back yard next. Well folks it looks like it is going to be in ALL of our back yards!!!What do you think it is going to do to our water quality.
The mining companies are all owned by other countries, do you think they are going to care about us. Think about it, isn't it a little scary that other countries are going to take all our minerals, and they will reap the benefits, not us. It scares me to think that other countries are buying up our banks, valuable land for forests and minerals, oil companies etc. Where will this leave us someday??
Anybody want to buy a house on Lake Superior? We have 2 for sale and a 28' boat, if and when these sell, we are out of here! We are so discussed with the State of Michigan. They have poorly managed their game, fish, and now they want to sell us out to mining companies that are NOT even owned by our own country, just so they can get more money that they will in turn mismanage. If any of you out there trust DEQ to do the right thing, I got news for you!!! Once again the UP gets dumped on and the state is selling us out. And by the way, when all the fish are dead, the deer are gone and the tourists go to other states to spend their vacations and their money, the State of Michigan can once again whine that they aren't getting enough revenue. It will serve them right!

TV 6's Jerry Hume is on his game when it comes to the news. This story is something you would see coming from a big city television station. It's investigative, non-biased, and informative. It breaks past what most other news outlets in the area are offering. This story has probably opened the eyes of many, whether for the mines or against. I am personally against the mine for the chance that we could turn our environment upside down. If they go through, I hope that they are successful in keeping it clean and safe. I don't want to be leaving comments years from now saying "I told you so". I hope, if it does go through, that it does boost the local economy and keeps the wilderness pristine. Over-all, I don't want to say go away mines. I just would rather have the minerals not under the ground where they are. It's too big of a gamble in my opinion, but I've done my part in voicing my opinion and I hope everyone else on here complaining about the other side has done the same. It's all we can do.

Either way TV 6 has been ahead of the rest lately when it comes to investigating. Between this string of mining stories and last week's Flounder's Landing stories, I've felt like I was back in the city with real news coverage. I don't know what has changed at the television station but I like it.

Thanks for the information thusfar in the first two parts of this series of reporting. People in the U.P. need to know the magnitude of these recent plans and proposals of foreign mining corporations--and our natural resources--activities which have been hidden from the public for several years and now is more open to scrutiny. The "quiet" buying of millions of acres of our mineral rights, the new ownership of forestlands, etc., comes as news to most of us. It has been a silent rainstorm that now has become a deluge and now is flooding over at least six U.P. Counties with questionable proposed metallic sulfide mining operations which will include injection/solution mining practices that can seriously impact thousands of acres of land surface and our watersheds that often empty into Lake Superior, and now, Lake Michigan as well. This is serious business--the ore and profits which will be taken from these mines will be a instant memory for us within less than two decades. What we will be left with to clean up is hard to imagine--particularly if you recognize that most of the U.P. still had the opportunity to remain relatively pristine for our posterity. Not a good trade for those who live here. It's a place that has already had its share of use and abuse, going back at least 150 years--it has healed in many places, from clear cutting and other mining operations, and it can now improve even more. People here have evolved to understand things they knew little about prior to 1970. But we cannot now introduce haphazard whims of corporate PR when we know these promises are false and unproven. This is more than mistrust--it's a sense that KEMC or others presently dangling carrots and promising to preserve the environment and make things safe also know that they cannot really accomplish this task. They'll do what they want, hope for the best, and pay the fines as they go along. Just another business expense and tax deductible for them.
Ecosystems are fragile and need real care to survive--like us and our offspring. Let's learn from the past and not ignore those hard-learned lessons. This is going to be a very difficult period. Once things start, it will be hard to slow it down and keep on top of it. And I really don't believe that we can count on the DNR, DEQ or the EPA to do this effectively. It's really a serious dilemma. The public needs to express its concerns now and really pay attention to what is going on around us. Before it's too late and the damage is done.

I keep going back and forth on the mining issue. Please look at the Prime Maridian website. TV6 reported a possible buy out (kennecott)by Rio Tinto a few weeks ago, Kennecottt is a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. (search it on the web) Rio Tinto does not have a good reputation. It's scarry to see that they list our population numbers on the Prime website (projects) Baraga basin project..Wilson creek project (proposed drilling) This may be just the begining of a global takeover for silver, gold, plutonium for China. I'm not opposed to mining, but with 4 more areas within 3 miles of the planned mine and with in 6 miles of Big Bay population 206..we may need to look a little harder.