EPA Says No Permit Needed for Rio Tinto Mine

Meanwhile, an American flag flies above Eagle Rock for the July 4th weekend

More than three months since Rio Tinto announced that it no longer needed a federal permit to inject 184 million gallons of treated wastewater every year at its proposed metallic sulfide Eagle Project, the US Environmental Protection Agency has agreed with the company.

In a letter dated July 1, Peter Silva, Assistant Administrator for Water for the EPA’s Region 5 division said the agency “reviewed” Rio Tinto’s revised plans for its “treated water infiltration system” and agreed that a permit is not required under the federal underground injection control program.”

Headwaters News’ co-editor, Teresa Bertossi, noted the irony of the decision coming on the eve of the Fourth of July.

“While the EPA and Michigan government celebrate the Fourth of July by giving away our public land to foreign corporations, remember that what freedom we have left in our country was won through the hearts and back breaking efforts of courageous people willing to take a stand,” said Bertossi.  “We owe it to those who have stood up for us throughout history, to protect our constitutional rights from corporate interests, big government and big money.”

On March 22, Rio Tinto’s Eagle Project manager, Jon Cherry, notified the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment that the company “has determined” that it didn’t need permits from the EPA.  At the time Cherry said that Rio Tinto “certifies” it has all the necessary permits to begin mining on 120 acres of public land in northern Marquette County.

In an official letter issued that very same day the Michigan DNRE agreed with Cherry, “based on the certifications” the company provided, and allowed bulldozing activity, logging and fence construction to take place at the site for weeks, even as the EPA notified the state agency that it “had not yet completed consultation” with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, regarding Eagle Rock, and that the agency “informed state officials that no decision has been made” regarding Rio Tinto’s need for a federal permit.

According to one EPA official, the news that Rio Tinto no longer needed a permit ”surprised and confused” federal agencies that “have not made a decision” on whether or not Rio Tinto must still obtain federal permits for its redesigned wastewater drainage system.

And it appears that playing hardball with the EPA led to Rio Tinto knowingly conducting possible illegal activity at the mine site.

According to the terms of Rio Tinto’s surface use lease with the State of Michigan, the company needed to obtain all final agency approvals in order to have access to the site for construction activities:

Prior to constructing the mining surface facility on the Premises, Lessee shall acquire all permits necessary for the implementation of this Lease, the Mining and Reclamation Plan, and the Part 632 Mining Permit. Pursuant to this requirement, any such permit must be the final agency action by the permitting agency and Lessee must provide written certification to and receive written acknowledgement from the Lessor that all necessary permits have been obtained.

Despite lacking final approvals, on April 20 the company managed to get a local citizen arrested for “trespassing” at the site.  Later that week, an occupation of Eagle Rock began that lasted for nearly five weeks before well over a dozen Michigan State Police troopers and Sheriff’s deputies arrested two Native Americans under the same charge.

Responding to the EPA’s recent decision, US Representative Bart Stupak, a critic of Michigan’s relatively new law regulating metallic sulfide mining, stressed that “it is imperative that the state of Michigan re-evaluate its sulfide mining law to ensure every precaution is being taken to ensure sulfide mining is done safely in Michigan.”

An American flag flying above Eagle Rock Saturday morning acts as a distress signal; Photo courtesy Stand for the Land

In an op-ed last week, Stupak compared Rio Tinto’s proposed mine to the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, saying that “BP and. . . London-based Rio Tinto, have earned reputations for their willingness to cut corners on safety and environmental safeguards to improve their bottom lines.”

Although most of the site has been bulldozed and fenced-off, locals aren’t giving the fight up just yet.  On Saturday morning an upside-down American flag was hanging in a tree on Eagle Rock.  An upside down flag is considered a standard military distress signal.

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