Assignment task:
Ask two questions and also discuss additional injustices, negligence, or human rights violations you think exist in the case study:
I'm going to be talking about the Twin Metals Minnesota mining in the Superior National Forest, um, project. So the Twin Metals Minnesota mining project is a superior is in the Superior National Forest, um, near the Boundary Waters. And it involves a proposal by the Twin Metals Minnesota, LLC. It's a multinational company that has developed, um, a mine and processing plant near the Boundary Waters. And the project aims to operate underground for about 25 years. And the depths would be between 400 and 4500ft deep. So to summarize, this project, um, the Duluth complex, which occupies most of the Superior National Forest, contains a lot of various minerals and metals, um, such as copper, nickel, lead and zinc. And the Twin Metals Minnesota LLC has expressed interest in mining these metals. Um, but they have to renew to mineral leases with the Bureau of Land Management. Which has caused concerns, um, about the production of highly toxic tailings that could, um, leak containments into the rainy River watershed and potentially harm the Boundary Waters ecosystem. This has also been a concern for the Native American community, um, known as the Ojibwa or Chippewa tribes. Up in this area, the Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters have traditionally been lands. Um. For the Chippewa tribe that have held cultural, spiritual and environmental, um, importance. So these tribes have um, used the interconnected waterways of the Superior National Forest for thousands of years. And this project has raised concerns with them about the potential of. The environmental impact and the water quality, um, which is a natural resource that the tribes rely on in this area. So the statutes are the National Environment Policy Act, which requires environmental analysis before making any final decisions on lease renewal, um, applications. And then the Mineral Leasing Act, which is, uh, it governs the leasing of public lands for mineral development, um, mostly mining. And then the US Forest Service consent decision. So the sense this is happening within, uh, the Superior National Forest and it falls into the US Forest Service lands, and they have the final consent to grant or deny, um, this lease renewal. And lastly, the 20 year mining ban. So this has been enacted, um, by the Secretary of Interior, which is protecting the Boundary Waters uh, area from mineral leasing. Environmental justice issues. So there's, um, the environmental review, synthesis, suspension. Um, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has actually suspended the environmental review of the Twin Cities, the Twin Metals project, and this has impacted by federal. This has impacted federal actions as well. So there's also been a cancellation of the federal leases. Um, the US Department of Interior has canceled the Twin Metals federal mineral lease, um, which was a pivotal decision that halted the mining project. This then led to some legal actions by the Twin Metals Minnesota, LLC. They filed a lawsuit to reclaim the federal mineral leases and reverse um, the decision that was made. So project cleanup currently. Um, the twin metals, since they don't have their renewed, um, leases, they are exploring ways, um, to collect data still in this area and the mineral resources, um, and the plan still includes drilling up to nine holes in, in the state. So and then legal development, um, the, uh, legal action by Twin Metals Minnesota LLC was dismissed by a federal judge, um, halting the whole project in the Boundary Waters area. And so these management decisions made by both state and federal have, um.
Have been seen as victories for the environmental justice, and it's been emphasizing that the protection of natural landscape, uh, is affirming that the government has the authority to act on this. So affected, um, affected and interested parties would the first one would be the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. They oversee the state's natural resources, and they've been involved with the environmental review process for this project. Next would be the US Bureau of Land Management. They're responsible for administration of federal mineral leases. And then the US Forest Service has also been involved. Again, this project location falls, um, within the forest boundaries. And the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe has also been involved. They've been highly involved, um, in the legal actions and the advocacy to protect the Boundary Waters, um, from threats posed by mining projects. And their efforts have been part of the broader movement to safeguard the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. And they emphasized needing to uphold the Ojibwa treaty rights and the preservation of their ancestral lands. And then, of course, the Twin Metals Minnesota LLC has been involved there. The company proposing the mining project, who is actively, um, engaging in other exploration activities in this area. So impacts. Um, I'll start with pros. So a pro to this project would be that it promises like significant economic benefits, such as job creation and contributions to the local and state um, economy through mineral, uh, royalties. However, though this leads to concerns for potential negative impacts as well. So the cons would be, um.
The potential contamination in the Boundary Waters in the rainy River watershed with, um, the toxic tailings from the mine. And then this also leads to concern about how this would then impact the biodiversity and ecosystems in the area surrounding it.
There's also concerns with health risks. Again, if this is going to affect the water quality around here around, um, the area and the local communities, and then there's always health risks with um, mining for the workers. And then another potential negative impact would be, uh, property values and tourism and recreational industries due to the, um, how highly active this area is.