Concerned Citizen: Rio Tinto Not Following Law With Electric Project

– 03/10/2011

by Gene Champagne

Why did the Concerned Citizens of Big Bay, a grassroots citizen organization, file a contested case petition against the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) over an amendment for the use of electrical power and the extension of existing power lines to Rio Tinto’s Eagle Mine site on the Yellow Dog Plains? The answer is simple. The laws and regulations set forth in Part 632 of Michigan’s new mining law were not followed.

This power line, paid for by Rio Tinto, was built to service the company's Eagle Mine

Rio Tinto filed for an amendment after power lines were hung upon new poles along County Road 550 (Big Bay Road) and new lines extended and buried along county roads 510 and AAA to within a stone’s throw of the entrance to the proposed mine. The DNRE did not request an amendment for the work the Alger Delta power company contracted to perform for the Rio Tinto because the DNRE accepted that the work was for a core shed on company property that was not part of a “mining activity.” Never mind that the core shed could have been powered by extending power from the Big Bay Sportsmen Club on CR 510. No residents, or camps, can tap into the current line (people have inquired), which carries 10.5 MW and is solely intended for industrial use.

When pressed by a Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve representative as to when the DNRE (then the DEQ) would require Rio Tinto to file for an amendment, Deputy Director Jim Sygo responded – in a letter dated July 29, 2008 – that as soon as the extension of electric lines ventured from the main grid to Big Bay and were laid out on CR 510, an amendment would need to be requested. This was not done.

“Part 632” of Michigan’s new mining laws is very clear about what constitutes a mining activity:

R 425.103(a) the definition of ‘mining activity’ includes (iv) Beneficiation; (x) Construction of haul roads; and (xi) Construction of utilities or extension of existing utilities.

A work crew runs power lines along County Road AAA, in northern Marquette County. The electric lines now connect Rio Tinto's Eagle Mine with a coal-fired power plant in Marquette; Photo Chauncey Moran

Upon reaching the gates of the proposed mining project, Rio Tinto filed an amendment for the use of electric power. On December 20, 2010 Hal Fitch, head of the Office of Geological Survey, determined that the requested amendment did not constitute a “significant change” from the approved permit.

Never mind that the Yellow Dog Plains have never had electric lines cross their terrain since the beginning of time. The amendment was granted to allow the extension electric power from the AAA Road to the power house located in the mining area. The lines laid were not intended solely for the core shed. They were laid to power a mine. They were laid, seemingly, under official false pretense. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

So, you say, what is the big deal if the nearby community receives so much benefit from these actions? The benefits from these actions are arguable, but that is not crux of the matter. What matters is that this proposed mine is the first of what may be many. This type of mining is unlike the current iron ore mining that now takes place at the Empire and Tilden mines. This so-called sulfide mining has an immense historical and global record of causing severe damage to the environment, most notably water.

If these mines are to be allowed and to bring prosperity, not devastation, to our region they must be permitted according to the laws and rules set forth. There can be no cutting of corners, especially on the first permitted mine. If Rio Tinto, with the loving approval of the DNRE are allowed to cut corners on the first permit for whatever self-promoted social value, it will set precedence and more corners will be cut on the next, and the next, and the next, until there are no corners left. The “toughest mining laws in the country” that Rio Tinto, their regulatory promoters, and our local politicians love to exude upon are nothing but worthless words on paper if they are not enforced.

Gene Champagne is a member of Concerned Citizens of Big Bay