Making Connections: The PolyMet Mine Debate
Current Connections
A current issue, similar to the Reserve Mining Case, is unfolding once again in northern Minnesota along the Mesabi Iron Range: The PolyMet Mine debate. This decade long debate on the establishment of a sulfide mine in the Duluth complex mirrors similar environmental justice concerns faced by Reserve and their establishment in late 1940s. While this project is still ongoing, it potentially has a lot to say about how our regulation and permit system has evolved over time, as well as our concerns for environmental justice.Overview
The PolyMet Mining Corporation is a company currently working on developing the NorthMet Mining Project. They are primarily interested in establishing an open-pit copper, nickel, cobalt, and precious metals mine (sulfide mine), located in the Mesabi Iron Range mining district in northeastern Minnesota. The company is currently seeking permits to operate the mine and processing facilities for 20 years at a mining rate of 32,000 tons of ore per day. In addition to a sulfide mine, PolyMet has also proposed a Land Exchange. The ore body they want to access is located beneath U.S. Forest Service land, and the proposed exchange would give the company surface ownership of about 6,650 acres of federal land in exchange for 6,720 acres of private land currently held by PolyMet.NorthMet Mining Project
The NorthMet Project would consist of three open pits: the West Pit (320 acres, 700 feet deep), the East Pit (150 acres, 630 feet deep), and the Central Pit (50 acres, 350 feet deep). In total, the mine would be about 2.5 miles long and a half-mile wide. In 2005, the company purchased the old LTV Steel Mining Company Plant, which was a former taconite processing facility that was idled in 2001. For the NorthMet Project, ore from the mine would be transported by rail approximately six miles west to the processing facilities located at the LTV site. Along with refurbishing the LTV plant, the project would also involve the construction of new hydrometallurgical facilities and a new tailings basin facility.PolyMet was formed in 2006 to extract copper-nickel deposits in the Duluth Complex (source). Upon PolyMet’s establishment, global copper copper prices were rising, driven by rapid growth in China, whose economy consumed 45% of all copper produced in the world. In 2011, copper peaked at $4.50 per pound. As China’s economy slowed, copper prices dropped to nearly half of the 2011 peak. Glencore has since provided PolyMet with $175 million in loans to keep PolyMet and its NorthMet proposals afloat.
PolyMet is currently in the process of acquiring the proper permits to begin construction. The company has spent the past 10 years in an environmental review process—drafting and re-drafting Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) in collaboration in Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). On November 6, 2015, PolyMet released the Final Environmental Impact Statement. Now available to the public, the DNR states that the company, though it has completed the proper initial environmental protocols, still needs to acquire permits to begin construction.
"The DNR has determined that the Final EIS for the proposed NorthMet Mining Project and Land Exchange is adequate...but it does not mean that the NorthMet Project has been approved or may proceed to construction. Additional environmental analysis and evaluation will occur upon receipt of permit applications." (MN DNR)
Permit and Environmental Review Process Timeline
2004-2010: initial environmental review; PolyMet works with DNR and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to develop Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
February 2010: EPA recommends a revised EIS to be formatted
2010-2013: Supplemental draft of EIS is prepared
December 13, 2013-March 13, 2014: Public comment period of draft EIS
December 13, 2013: USACE publishes PolyMet’s mining application for the Clean Water Act section 404 permit (Federal Wetlands Permit)
March 13, 2014: EPA issues EC2 rating for supplementary draft of EIS (highest rating a project like this can receive from the EPA)
June 22, 2015: Preliminary final EIS released for internal review
November 6, 2015: Final EIS completed and released
November 13, 2015: U.S. Forest Service publishes draft record of decision on proposed land exchange
December 21, 2015: EPA submits final EIS comment letter to DNR
March 3, 2016: State makes adequacy determination, validates EIS
