Trump administration plan to mine near popular Minnesota wilderness area sparks multiple lawsuits
Plans to mine copper in the state's national forest would bring "contamination and degradation" environmental groups say.
KYLA MANDEL JUN 25, 2018, 3:36 PM
Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in an effort to stop plans to allow mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota.
The lawsuit was filed in a federal district court on June 25 in Washington, D.C. by The Wilderness Society, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Izaak Walton League of America, and represented by Earthjustice. Together, the organizations join nine local Minnesota businesses that filed a similar, separate lawsuit last week.
The legal challenges come after President Donald Trump announced during a rally in Duluth, Minnesota last week that he wanted to keep large portions of land within the state’s Superior National Forest — where the Boundary Waters recreation area is located — open to mining. These ares of land were set to be banned to industry activities under the Obama administration.
This followed a decision issued by the Interior Department last month to reinstate two expired federal mineral leases held by Twin Metals Minnesota. The foreign-owned company is pursuing a copper-nickel project in the area and stands to benefit from Trump’s promise to rescind an Obama-era decision to restrict industrial access from hundreds of thousands of acres in the national forest.
https://thinkprogress.org/lawsuit-filed-against-zinke-to-stop-mining-near-minnesota-wilderness-area-7c03315bd14a/
Hey David Bernhardt...................... I grew up in the area maybe its time for the citizens of Minnesota to once and for all have ballot measure on the area.................it generates more income to the state than transferring that money to Chile oligarchy who knows Ivanka Trump, because she may have a stake in that mine if it were to come to fruition.................
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