MARQUETTE COUNTY -- Michigan environmental regulators have reached a settlement with two Upper Peninsula iron mines over illegal waste disposal.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment said Thursday the Tilden and Empire mines in Marquette County violated state law and their federal permits by discharging tailings in the wrong places in 2008 and 2009.
Under the settlement, the mines will clean up the pollution, replace a pipeline, and look for tailings that might have been dumped before 2008. They'll also pay a $51,000 fine and cover costs of the state investigation.
The mines already have spent $8.4 million on cleanup and replacing pipelines to prevent other unauthorized discharges.
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