The tribes told the EPA they believe the open pit mine, which would be located in Ashland and Iron counties, would harm local water resources.
Six Chippewa Indian bands in Wisconsin have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate the environmental effects of a proposed iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin before the plan is reviewed by state regulators and another federal agency.
The request is similar to one made before a decision by the EPA in February to review a proposed mining project in Alaska that opponents, including Indian tribes, say would harm nearby fishing stocks.
The tribes told the EPA they believe the open pit mine, which would be located in Ashland and Iron counties, would harm local water resources and pollute waters downstream extending to Lake Superior.
In their petition, the Chippewa tribes asked the EPA to intercede and evaluate the effects of the mine before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reviews a mining application.
That review could include an EPA veto of a decision by the Corps or the state over the effects of dredging and digging in or near waterways.
In their May 27 letter, the tribes argued that new state iron mining regulations have been weakened in many ways, for example, by allowing iron mine developers to fill in wetlands and by altering standards for protecting groundwater. The legislative changes had been pushed by the mining company, Gogebic Taconite, as a condition to come to Wisconsin to develop the mine.
The company is proposing to build two open-pit mines up to 1,000 feet deep that would span about four miles.
The tribes include the Bad River band of Lake Superior Chippewa, whose reservation is nearest the project. Tribal Chairman Mike Wiggins Jr. said in a letter to the EPA that sulfide waste rock could make waters acidic, harm fish populations and devastate the largest beds of wild rice on the Great Lakes.
Gogebic has not filed a formal application for a mining permit, and is not expected to in 2014. Once it applies for a permit, the state Department of Natural Resources and Army Corps of Engineers must conduct an environmental review of the project.
The EPA rarely steps in to review under the Clean Water Act. It has decided to evaluate potential projects 29 times over the past 40 years of the law. In 13 of those cases, the agency decided to limit or stop activity that posed an environmental threat.
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