Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has come through for environmental protection in Northern Minnesota on two key issues in recent months, an encouraging sign for those of us counting on state agencies to prioritize communities and our natural environment.
A pause on PolyMet proceedings
Most recently, the DNR issued a stay in proceedings for PolyMet’s proposed NewRange sulfide ore mining project near Hoyt Lakes. While this won’t stop this highly hazardous mine – which is dealing with a plethora of other permitting issues and lawsuits from tribes and environmental groups – it puts a pin in it for now.
PolyMet’s mining proposals, especially relating to waste storage, have been highly controversial, and with good reason: they would lead to massive destruction of wetlands and generate huge quantities of toxic waste. That waste would need to be stored indefinitely, and the company has not proven that it can or will do so safely. The inevitable spills could be devastating for the St. Louis River and Lake Superior watershed and downstream communities like the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
The Supreme Court has ordered more review of whether NewRange can store its waste safely under its current plan, while the company says it is conducting its own research into various possible changes to the project.
The DNR said it issued the stay to avoid wasting time and resources gathering information on one NewRange plan when the revised plan is likely to be substantially different. PolyMet disagreed with the decision. While MEP and allied groups would prefer that the DNR deny permits for this plan entirely, we appreciate the DNR sticking up for the process rather than providing continuing review of the project.
Halt to a harmful resort expansion
We recently covered the Minnesota DNR’s decision to file a lawsuit against the Lake County planning commission over its approval of a resort expansion that would threaten shoreline and wildlife on the edge of the Boundary Waters. Lake County wanted to bypass its own shoreline protection rules to allow Silver Bay Lodge to construct new buildings and docks in a natural area on the lake’s edge.
The DNR sided with area residents who organized against the expansion on the grounds that it would harm the shoreline and aquatic ecosystems of Farm Lake. They argued that Lake County can’t simply set its rules aside to accommodate a resort expansion.
Since then, Silver Rapids Lodge has surrendered its permits and given up on the expansion for now, but noted that it could apply for other permits in the future. The DNR and resident petitioners are continuing to press the case, however, because the matter of whether the county’s permits would violate the law has not been decided in court.
Wins for the public interest
Under state law, the DNR sometimes has to strike a balance between maximizing protections for Minnesota’s lands, waters, and other natural resources, and promoting their use. The DNR’s own mission statement says that it intends to provide for commercial use of resources “in a way that creates a sustainable quality of life.”
These recent decisions are consistent with that mission. Our state’s resources may be abundant, but they’re not limitless or invulnerable, and we can’t take for granted that Minnesota will always have the same lakes, wetlands, and species that we see today. Plenty of state agency decisions have swung too far toward extracting and developing resources, rather than stewarding them with sustainability. We appreciate that in these two cases, the DNR looked toward the long-term, rather than letting developers bypass environmental laws.