Mining in Northern Wisconsin

WHEREAS:

Copper and zinc are not strategic nor critical metals at this time and can be stored indefinitely in place until safe sulfide mining technology is proven;

The environmental record of the mining industry is checkered, at best;

Protected storage of acid-producing tailings “forever” is barely believable and is especially problematic with unproven technology;

Mining impacts on surface and groundwater must be estimated using computer models (3 steps removed from reality) and unproven assumptions;

The Crandon mining site is located in an environmentally sensitive area (Wolf River watershed over a large aquifer)—not a safe area to test technology;

Winsconsin laws regulating mines have been systematically weakened during the past 15 years leaving in place loophole-ridden laws bestowing lenient treatment for mining—“The most stringent mining laws in the nation” are moot if they fail to protect the environment;

Independent environmental watchdogs have recently been systematically eliminated or compromised in Wisconsin (Public Intervenor’s Office eliminated, DNR politicized);

Rulings by the DNR and Corps of Engineers that diversion of water from the St. Lawrence watershed to the Mississippi is exempt from intergovernmental surface water agreements because it is ground water rather than surface water appears to be specious and political semantics (much surface water is discharge of ground water—water is water);

Furthermore, if such rulings remain unchanged they set a precedent for further division of groundwater to other regions of the country (the Southwest);

Promised jobs for local people are, at best, relatively short term employment and are, at worst, subject to cyclic and intermittent activity of the mining industry (i.e., boom and bust economy);

The current political process is fraught with “big money” which too often directs decisions contrary to public interest and has undermined public confidence;

Long distance transport of waste water, as currently proposed from the Crandon mining site, would set a precedent for shifting cost of wastewater treatment from private companies to local taxpayers, and could potentially hamstring future expansion of local industry and residential growth;

Tourism, based on natural amenities of the North, is the backbone of Northwood’s economy and could be our most nearly sustainable economic endeavor—mining and industrialization erodes the invaluable natural foundation of tourism;

THEREFORE, placing high value on protecting our natural resources while promoting a sustainable economy in the Northwoods, the executives of the Democratic Party of Oneida County can do no other than support a moratorium on mining that will prevent irreversible environmental damage until such time that confidence can be restored that politically-independent agencies are regulating the impacts in the best interest of the public at large.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ONEIDA COUNTY