An environmental protection group has been formed to block the development of a nickel mine on the Iron Range in north-eastern Minnesota.
The organization - called "Water Legacy" - is hoping to block the PolyMet copper nickel mine from going ahead. Polymet is hoping to mine metals including copper, nickel, palladium and gold in an area known as the Duluth Complex. It is estimated the mine would employ up to 400 people with an annual payroll of $40 million.
"Water Legacy" say the project will destroy 3,200 acres of forests and wetlands as well as polluting ground and surface waters with sulphuric acid and mercury. The group has asked government agencies to stop Polymet from developing the project until all questions have been answered about risks to human health and concerns regarding the environment.
However, Polymet say that the group's concerns can all be answered: "We have a very good technology that has been developed and refined over the past 20 or 30 years to be able to recover all of the metals without sending all of the pollutants up into the air."
Source: KBJR-TV
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