Is mining the solution to job loss?

Posted: 10.26.2008 at 10:27 PM

Read more: Local, Kennecott, Mine, Nickel, Copper, Tom Casperson, Rally, Job Loss, Yellow Dog Plains, Michigamme

With severe job losses in Michigan recently, congressional candidate says we can't afford to say no to companies like Kennecott.

MICHIGAMME -- Frustrations were high at the delays that have kept Kennecott from providing over a hundred new jobs and more than 300 spin-off positions.

"I think a lot of people are anti-mining and don't really understand the new regulations and the technology for mining,” said Gary Petersen, cofounder of Citizens for Responsible Mining. “I think there are a lot of half-truths and ignorance out there."

At a pro-mining rally held in Michigamme on Sunday, congressional hopeful Tom Casperson said he didn’t understand the opposition if Kennecott meets the tougher underground mining regulations he helped pass almost four years ago.

“Governor Granholm said these were the toughest standards in the country for underground mining; probably the toughest in the world,” explaimed Casperson. “And I think with standards like these, if we can't do it, who can?"

While most people in the crowd were for the mine, there were a few people who attended that were against it. They believe the risks simply outweigh the benefits.

Environmentalist Kristi Mills, director of Save the Wild U.P., believes where Kennecott plans to mine for nickel and copper, underneath the Salmon Trout River in the Yellow Dog Plains, could contaminate those waters and says the jobs aren't worth it.

"Historically speaking, mines are boom and bust,” explained Mills. “They come into a community. The mine is built. People are employed. The resource runs out and the mine is gone. So then they move on."

Kennecott hoped to begin building their mine this fall, but that isn't likely to happen. The company needs two contested cases to be resolved and an EPA permit before they can begin construction.