Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership
Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate voted to pass Minnesota Congressman Pete Stauber’s resolution to overturn a 20-year ban on new mining projects in the Boundary Waters watershed. The U.S. House of Representatives had already passed the resolution in January in alignment with the Trump Administration’s deregulatory agenda.
We covered the resolution and the moratorium in February. We noted at the time that the resolution was likely, though not certain, to pass. Indeed, the final vote in the Senate was only 50-49 in favor, with two Republicans voting with all Democrats – including Minnesota’s Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Tina Smith – against it.
The resolution will not immediately result in a mine being permitted or built. The Twin Metals copper-nickel mine, proposed to be built on the edge of the Boundary Waters, would require years of permitting and review before construction. If built, however, it will pose a permanent threat to the Boundary Waters. The waste that would result from the mine forms sulfuric acid when it reacts with water, and the Boundary Waters’ interconnected waterways would quickly cause the pollution to spread after a spill, with devastating results.
The resolution’s passage is likely to provoke legal challenges. As Senator Smith said after the vote, the fight for the Boundary Waters is not over.
The most important arena is now Minnesota’s state laws. While Minnesota has laws regulating mining waste and wetlands destruction, they have not always taken effect. The wild rice sulfate standard going unenforced by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agencies for decades serves as a classic example. Minnesota needs our agencies to step up and effectively enforce these protections.
At the same time, we need the Legislature to act. Enshrining laws that will permanently protect Minnesota’s northern waters is the only way to keep sulfide mining waste at bay.
If any Legislators didn’t know how much Minnesotans care about getting it done before Wednesday, they certainly should now.
More than five hundred people entered the State Capitol on the morning of Earth Day for a rally in support of environmental protections. Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Executive Director Chris Knopf emceed the rally, and protecting the BWCA and other watersheds from sulfide mining was the focal issue of the rally, as signs in the rotunda and the fervent support of the crowd made clear. Speakers from environmental groups and tribal communities also addressed other issues at risk amid this flurry of anti-environment policy, such as PFAS law, climate progress, and wild rice.
MEP Executive Director Steve Morse was the final speaker and delivered an especially relevant message: “Democracy dies when good people do nothing.”
Two-thirds of Minnesotans want stronger protections for the Boundary Waters. 93% are concerned about pollution in the waters near them. We need state policy to catch up with our priorities. We hope that Legislators – and the political candidates in this year’s pivotal election – are paying attention.