MARQUETTE - Despite a threatened lawsuit targeting Wisconsin's Flambeau Mine over pollution concerns, Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company officials maintain Flambeau is an excellent example of a successful mining and recovery operation, which its proposed Eagle Project on the Yellow Dog Plains would be comparable to.
The Wisconsin Resources Protection Council - a conservation organization founded in 1982 to address concerns over mining in northern Wisconsin - announced last month it plans to sue the Flambeau Mining Company and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Council attorney Glenn M. Stoddard said the potential lawsuit is based on monitoring data collected by the Flambeau Mining Company provided to the Wisconsin DNR and the council.
The Flambeau Mine, located just south of Ladysmith, Wis., operated from 1993 to 1997 and produced more than 181,000 tons of copper, 334,000 ounces of gold and 3.3 million ounces of silver.
In 1997, the 32-acre pit on the more than 180-acre mine site was backfilled. Pollution monitoring continued afterward. The mine subsequently received a certificate of completion from the Wisconsin DNR.
"The data shows that runoff from the Flambeau Mine is in violation of applicable surface water quality standards and is illegally polluting a nearby stream and the Flambeau River," Stoddard said in a news release. "The data also shows that groundwater at the mine site is polluted and, at a minimum, requires expanded monitoring. However, the DNR has failed to properly regulate Flambeau Mining Company and has, instead, allowed the company to violate the law and portray the Flambeau Mine as an environmental success story when it is not."
In a press release Wednesday, the Flambeau Mining Company said the council's claims are without merit and will be vigorously contested. The company said it will seek recovery of legal costs from opponents under frivolous claim statutes.
"We are disappointed by the repetitive and very old nature of these unfounded claims and will vigorously defend our project with the facts and science. The Ladysmith mine was done well from start to finish, and we have the record to prove it," said Jana Murphy, environmental and reclamation manager for the Flambeau mining project. "These opponents want to unfairly and inaccurately tarnish this project to meet their broader anti-mining agenda. That approach might get some attention, but the facts show this project has a strong environmental record and we will make that point aggressively in court if necessary."
Teresa Bertossi of the Marquette area-based Save the Wild U.P. said in a press release: "Kennecott's public relations image of 'promises kept' and integrity of the Flambeau Mine is a fantasy, one that has been unveiled by the hard-working citizens of Wisconsin."
Kennecott spokeswoman Deb Muchmore said the Eagle Project can be expected to be built, operated and closed in a "similar outstanding fashion" as Flambeau.
"We naturally pointed to the Flambeau Mine because it is an exceptional example of mining in the Upper Midwest in similar geologic conditions, that was done exceptionally well, that operated the life of the mine and has been closed now with an unblemished environmental record," Muchmore said.
Kennecott's Eagle Project, a proposed nickel and copper mine, is on hold awaiting an administrative law judge decision and a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
