Could PolyMet/Northmet be third-party certified as a Responsible Mine?

Back in the days before we became a recovering planner, we met a number of residents and officials of various units of local government, particularly townships and counties, who had been sure that they didn't need zoning, or their ordinance didn't need to cover certain uses, until it did. Sometimes, then, it was too late. They were faced with the proverbial need to lock a barn door after the horse was inside.

What started us thinking about these situations was a paragraph we reread in The Meaning of Wilderness: essential articles and speeches / Sigurd F. Olson. On page 56 we find the following:

The only hope of preserving a few remnants of the old wilderness ... is to work out a comprehensive zoning plan in which the entire country will be classified as to the type of recreational land use it is best suited for.

Olson was advocating to prevent overflights and/or, especially, aviation access to the Boundary Waters and similar areas. His concept, it seems to us, is sound but has, to our knowledge, lain dormant, to the detriment of those who would protect the wilderness from extractive industries.

does anything protect Minnesota's Sawtooths from mountaintop removal mining?

Photo by J. Harrington

Here's a challenge! See if you can find out what zoning, if any, applies to the site(s) of the PolyMet / NorthMet project or the Twin Metals location. Are there setback requirements from wetlands, streams, rivers or contiguous properties? To provide a sense of what you're looking for, follow the link to an online version of a Minnesota Model Mining Ordinance prepared under the auspices of the Saint Croix River Association. We believe it was developed in anticipation of a proposed sand and gravel operation near the Wild and Scenic River.

The significance of national, state and local designations of recreational areas, and the land use controls that govern them and surrounding areas (buffers) becomes particularly relevant in the case of responsible and sustainable mining operations. One of the standards we haven't yet mentioned in this series of posts is from the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance [IRMA]. It explicitly states that:

3.7.5.3. IRMA will not certify new mines that are developed in or that adversely affect the following protected areas if those areas were designated to protect cultural values (see also Chapter 4.6):193

• World Heritage Sites, and areas on a State Party’s official Tentative List for World Heritage Site Inscription;

• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) protected area management categories I-III; and

• Core areas of UNESCO biosphere reserves.

3.7.5.4. An existing mine located entirely or partially in a protected area listed in 3.7.5.3 shall demonstrate that:

a. The mine was developed prior to the area’s official designation;

b. Management plans have been developed and are being implemented to ensure that activities during the remaining mine life cycle will not permanently and materially damage the integrity of the cultural values for which the area was designated or recognized; and

c. The operating company collaborates with relevant management authorities to integrate the mine’s management strategies into the protected area’s management plan.

3.7.5.5. To safeguard irreplaceable cultural heritage and respect indigenous peoples’ right to self- determination, the operating company shall not carry out new exploration or develop new mines in areas where indigenous peoples are known to live in voluntary isolation.

For our purposes, the IUCN provision is particularly relevant, since we believe the Boundary Waters falls into one of the categories, or at least qualifies for inclusion. Our major point today, however, is that there are a number of established protective strategies and techniques that could be used to both improve the environmental performance of mining operations in Minnesota, and make them more acceptable neighbors. This would, or at least should, enhance their ability to obtain the "social license" needed to get mining and environmental permits. Why are not more of the actors in Minnesota's economic development and environmental protection sectors doing more about this. Wouldn't it be a more productive way to protect both jobs and the environment than to engage in a never-ending series of public relations, legislative and court battles over each and every mine proposal? PolyMet NorthMet claims they are "Committed to Responsible Mining." If they are serious about that, they can apply for certification.

We're going to share the usual poem we put here one stanza at a time. It's a long poem but, we believe, fits really well with the theme we're developing.

Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings

By Joy Harjo

4. REDUCE DEFENSIVENESS AND BREAK THE DEFENSIVENESS CHAIN:

I could hear the light beings as they entered every cell. Every cell is a house of the god of light, they said. I could hear the spirits who love us stomp dancing. They were dancing as if they were here, and then another level of here, and then another, until the whole earth and sky was dancing.

We are here dancing, they said. There was no there.

There was no  "I"  or "you."

There was us; there was "we."

There we were as if we were the music.

You cannot legislate music to lockstep nor can you legislate the spirit of the music to stop at political boundaries—

—Or poetry, or art, or anything that is of value or matters in this world, and the next worlds.

This is about getting to know each other.

We will wind up back at the blues standing on the edge of the flatted fifth about to jump into a fierce understanding together.

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