SOCIAL JUSTICE BLOG
Read and share extraordinary stories from the frontlines of social change
PolyMet's Water Pollution Permit For Sulfide Ore Mine Thrown Out!
The Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision to throw out PolyMet’s water pollution permit was a complete vindication of WaterLegacy’s work after many years of investigation and litigation, much of which was supported by the Impact Fund. The Minnesota Supreme Court not only reversed a major PolyMet permit, but also held that “secrecy is unacceptable.” The Court’s decision has already been cited several times, and we believe it will have important precedential value in Minnesota to protect clean water and regulatory integrity.
Winning in Environmental Litigation: Outlast the Polluters to Defend the Environment
The PolyMet/Glencore copper-nickel sulfide mine is a dangerous project and a formidable adversary. This mine would be located in the headwaters of the St. Louis River, the largest U.S. tributary to Lake Superior, upstream of the Fond du Lac Reservation and Minnesota’s third largest city, Duluth. The PolyMet/Glencore mine would destroy more than 1,000 acres of wetlands¾the largest wetlands destruction ever approved in the history of our U.S. Army Corps region. The project would release sulfate and toxic metals into waters already impaired due to mercury, contaminating drinking water, decimating wild rice, and increasing toxic mercury contamination of fish. Unfortunately, the Minnesota Legislature has taken PolyMet’s side for more than a decade, sweeping away laws that would pose hurdles in permitting and spending millions in taxpayer funds for outside mining-industry lawyers to represent the agencies granting PolyMet permits.
Environmental Justice Appeals Court Victory in Minnesota Paves The Way To Hold PolyMet Accountable.
The proposed PolyMet mine project, located at the headwaters of the St. Louis River, the largest U.S. tributary to Lake Superior, would destroy or impair more than 1,000 acres of wetlands and leach toxic metals like mercury, lead and arsenic into our waters. PolyMet’s tailings waste dam uses the same cheap design as the tailings dam that catastrophically failed in Brazil in early 2019, killing over 250 people.