Second Verse is Worse Than the First
Not long back Middle Wisconsin shared a story with you, “The Photo of One Hundred Shares.” The photo and story were about the Porcupine Mountains State Park and the potential mining there. It is time to update you on that possibility of mining on State Park land, under the Presque Isle River and possibly even under Lake Superior. This is planned at the west end of the Porcupine Mountains.
That story was bad enough, now we have photo two that explains their tailings dam on site. A tailings dam is an earthen dam, and it is created to hold back toxic tailings. Tailings are the ground by product that remains after the milling process has removed the valuable metals from the rock. That toxic sludge will remain there forever, unless the dam breaks, and it will, and then it will destroy all life in its path due to heavy metals pollution. Note that the tailings dam slopes towards Lake Superior. What could go wrong?! We have been informed the bulldozers will come this spring and summer. Copperwood also plans to reconstruct a nearby flowing creek and then dam that to create their own water source. That alters wetlands and streams. Did I mention this is in America’s oldest remaining old growth Hemlock Forest. Look what they are doing to this ecosystem. Once it is gone, it’s gone forever.
I generally camp or go off in the woods to be away from noise. Imagine your camping experience with bulldozers, and heavy truck traffic. A Canadian mining company, operating twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There goes your air quality, and there will be light pollution as well. Mining does not leave a small footprint. A large area will need to be cleared; large enough to put in a four lane highway.
Mining companies will tell you they bring in jobs. The truth is often times they bring in their own workers. Mining is a boom-and-bust operation that fuels only one pocket and that is theirs. The money that mining companies are made to put up front for reclamation isn’t enough to fill potholes let alone a real disaster.
My ask to you is to contact Governor Whitmer in Michigan and tell her NO to ruining our pristine Porcupine Mountains to a foreign mining company. Her information is found below. And don’t drink the water.
https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/contact