On Monday, July 24th 2018, the final negotiated National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was posted without the inclusion of an unrelated land exchange sought by PolyMet for their proposed copper-nickel sulfide mine near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. PolyMet’s land exchange is currently being challenged in court.
In response, Sierra Club State Director Margaret Levin issued the following statement:
“Minnesotans deserve their day in court. The decision by Congressional negotiators to omit PolyMet’s land exchange from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) clears the way for Federal Courts to review the multiple legal challenges to PolyMet’s ‘sweetheart’ land exchange deal. It was never appropriate for Congress to interfere in pending litigation, and we expect nothing less than full judicial review of these critical issues without further political interference.”
Environmental organizations have filed four separate lawsuits challenging aspects of PolyMet’s land exchange. The Sierra Club is co-plaintiff on one legal challenge seeking judicial review of the exchange under the Federal Weeks Act. These lawsuits challenge the U.S. Forest Service decision to transfer 6,500 acres of protected Superior National Forest land to PolyMet for its open pit sulfide mine. Instead of following the intent of long-standing laws written for watershed and environmental protections, the U.S. Forest Service is seeking to give away public land to a foreign mining company in exchange for scattered parcels of private land elsewhere. The Sierra Club is fighting this.
The Sierra Club North Star Chapter has been involved in fighting PolyMet since 2005, reading thousands of pages of environmental review, attending hearings, and submitting comments. The process has clearly shown that sulfide mining in Minnesota's water rich region will degrade and pollute the water and environment of the Arrowhead region, and will require water treatment for at least 500 years – virtually forever.
The permitting of PolyMet has never been about a single mine. It is about a massive sulfide mining district extending from outside Duluth, to PolyMet, to the BWCAW, ultimately polluting both the Lake Superior and Rainy River watersheds.
Thanks in part to the calls and emails from you - a Sierra Club activist - Congress has removed the unrelated PolyMet land exchange deal from the Defense Act, meaning we can keep fighting the PolyMet mine in court and wherever else we need to. Please stay tuned for the next fight.