If you haven’t heard, Highland Copper (the Canadian mining company behind the infamous Copperwood Mine) is back again with desperate attempts to fund an ill-conceived and poorly-planned sulfide mining project that would be the closest to Lake Superior in history. The proposed Copperwood Mine would extract toxic waste and chemicals from underneath Porcupine Mountains State Park and up to 100 feet of Lake Superior, exposing mercury, arsenic and other harmful metals to the surrounding ecosystems and watersheds.

A $50 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation for the Copperwood Mine is currently being considered in the Michigan Senate, after being rejected twice in 2024. As if that’s not enough, an earmark request to the state budget is actively trying to secure public funding for the mine’s infrastructure-under the guise of being a “community benefit”.

Overwhelming opposition to Copperwood was critical to the grant’s rejection last year, thanks to the tireless work of grassroots community organizations like Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior and Protect the Porkies. Yoopers and Michiganders know the Copperwood project is a bad deal. That’s why over 400,000 people and 70-plus state organizations have signed petitions, written letters and spoken up to oppose the mine.

Just 1.5% of all the material Copperwood would pull from the earth would be usable copper, with the rest being toxic metal-bearing waste rock that would be permanently stored in a “pond” on terrain sloping towards Lake Superior-less than 2 miles away. This would threaten the health of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem and everything that depends on it. The cost of cleaning up existing mine pollution across Lake Superior has already exceeded $2 billion dollars; Copperwood would make that number skyrocket.

Highland Copper claims 380 jobs would be created by Copperwood, but:

• Many jobs will go to out-of-state residents

• They plan to transfer many employees from Eagle Mine

• The mine would operate for only 11 years

That leaves local residents without long-term employment and economic gains. There has never been a sulfide mine that has not contaminated nearby water sources – ever. Copperwood presents a clear and existential threat to Lake Superior. Highland Copper knows this, and, despite Yoopers not wanting the project in the first place, wants to use your tax dollars to fund it.

Ask yourself: would you pay for the pollution of Lake Superior, the Porcupine Mountains, and the North Country Trail?

The fate of Copperwood rests largely in the hands of a small group of downstate legislators.

• The Senate Appropriations Committee is responsible for deliberating the $50 million grant from the MEDC. Senator Sarah Anthony is the chair of this committee. Contact her through her website: https://senatedems.com/anthony/

• The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor and Economic Opportunity is currently considering the state budget request for the mine’s infrastructure. Representative Nancy Jenkins-Arno is the chair of this subcommittee. Contact her through her website: https://gophouse.org/member/RepNancyJenkinsArno/about

• Speaker of the House Matt Hall also wields significant influence over what legislation and spending requests move forward in the Legislature. Contact him through his website: https://gophouse.org/member/repmatthall/about

Please, sign this quick form (takes less than 2 minutes) that will be sent to the legislators responsible for considering both the $50 million Copperwood grant and budget request-calling on them to reject taxpayer dollars for mine waste: https://secure.everyaction.com/Z9y9aW5rlUq9STX1agK4OQ2

Or … send your own comments: https://protecttheporkies.com/take-action