What is the Sierra Club doing about the sulfide mines?
The Sierra Club is not opposed to mining. Since we all use metals every day, mining is a necessary part of the nation’s economy. But we learned that mining in sulfide rocks has never been done anywhere without significant irreversible harm to water and land. At first, there was no applicable law in Michigan to regulate this type of mining. So we joined the working groups that wrote the Part 632 Non Ferrous Mineral Mining Law to govern all non-ferrous (non-iron) mining in Michigan, and the MDEQ rules to apply the new law. We strongly pushed for requirements for thorough environmental impact assessment, robust public participation opportunities, as well as many other components. The Sierra Club has testified at hearings, we’ve worked with our allies to hold permit and public comment workshops, plus submitted extensive comments to the state agencies on the Kennecott draft permits, the first applications to be filed under Part 632. You may download the Sierra Club’s comments on the Kenneco
