Menominee Tribal Chair Requests Michigan Governor to Revisit Permits for Risky Mine
Douglas Cox, Tribal Chair for the Menominee Indian Nation requested Michigan Governor Whitmer to “revisit whether permits were improperly issued” in a letter to the editor. Several permits for the mine were granted despite documents showing concerns from state and federal regulators.
Gathering wild rice and harvesting lake sturgeon from the Menominee River are important to the tribe’s culture, yet the location of the proposed open-pit mine, as close as 100 feet from the river, threatens the river, wild rice and lake sturgeon through toxic sulfide drainage generated from the mining process.
Over $6 million in federal funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and other sources has been invested in restoring the habitat for lake sturgeon in the Menominee River. Just this week the first lake sturgeon fish ladder was completed. Freshwater Future believes that utilizing these restoration dollars while allowing potential new harm to the region does not make good fiscal sense. |