Kennecott Eagle Mine: Get Out of Michigan

Silver smelting killed my great-grandfather Viktori. Mining chemicals killed my great-uncle Arno. Both died before their 48th birthday from the effects of silver and nickel mining. I know my family grieved for these two men. But that was before I was born. Now I grieve for the damage, pollution and corruption of silver/copper/nickel mining in our world today. Viktori worked at the Deloro Mine sometime between 1904 and 1910. The mine closed, but Canada is still working to clean up the site; the terrible destruction perpetrated by the mine company for the time it was in operation. There has never been a silver/nickel mine that did not pollute its environs. Never. N E V E R. Kennecott Metals (a division of Rio Tinto, world perpetrator of mining earth pillage) is building their Eagle Mine without all the federal, Michigan and local permissions in place. The Salmon Trout River, unique breeding habitat for coasters, is about to be irreversibly polluted. The Yellow Dog River watershed is going to be ravaged. The local population has been denied their ancestral rights to tribal holy grounds. Judges have reversed decision back and forth until the only ones who can keep any damn thing straight are the legal buzzards working for Kennecott and Rio Tinto. Kennecott continues to claim they are environmentally responsible which they have never been. Never. N E V E R. Kennecott has convinced locals that this mine will add jobs. 100 jobs. For 5 years. Maybe. And 100 years from now we will still be cleaning up their shit. Kennecott is now digging the mile long decline tunnel, the ore extraction method called long hole stope mining. This is a more profitable way to extract ore because it's worker free. Did you catch that? Worker free. Where's the jobs, lying Kennecott Metals? Note the lighthearted lies about commitment to returning the area to stable and productive conditions. What the hell does that mean? Lies and damnable liars. Today Huron Mountain Club has finally stepped up and filed a federal law suit against Kennecott Metals because the super-rich families who started the Huron Mountain Club are richer than the rich guys who own Kennecott Metals.This is now not just about the 1% - this is about the .50% vs the .50%. Thus begins what I'm going to call the swinging dick ballet. We will be seeing more acts in this ensemble piece in the near future as the field of combatants in the top 1% battle for financial center stage. In this case I'm cheering for the Huron Mountain Boys because, when the Club was established in 1889 it was a hunting and fishing club, however exclusive, and if the Salmon Trout coasters, and the Yellow Dog Watershed peoples get to live harmoniously with nature after kicking Kennecott the hell out of Michigan, I'm all for that. We need to stand up and be heard about the degradation of our planet, and ourselves. Keep it simple: say it loud. This is my planet, and I will use my voice to keep her healthy, even if I suspect no one who can help stop this terrible destruction is listening.

Eagle Rock Protest: Stop Rio Tinto Mining

Cynthia Pryor writes today about the Eagle Rock Sacred Fire: it's burning and you can read about it here at Stand for the Land or on Huffington Post.

Pryor was arrested a couple weeks ago for trespassing. She was walking her dog to Eagle Rock, a sacred site to Anishinaabe tribes. Rio Tinto, not the land owners yet, called law enforcement who arrested Pryor when she refused to leave.

The Yellow Dog River watershed in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is still public land. Rio Tinto, who wants to gouge the land and poison the watershed to extract nickel and copper, has a land lease that still has no federal authority to be used. Rio Tinto has been stopped in their press to pollute the Yellow Dog River watershed in the past. Yet Rio Tinto has bulldozed, and blasted and now has engaged law enforcement for their private use - on public land.

The picture on the left is one of the small falls on the Yellow Dog River. It is pristine, beautiful and rolls as nature intended to Lake Superior. The picture on the right is a mountain stream that feeds into the Cheat River in West Virginia, rocks stained permanently by the mining operations in the area.

The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community has joined the protest to protect their treaty rights and their sacred site.

I blogged about the Yellow Dog, the legacy of metallic sulfide mining and the stay of execution for this wilderness granted by Ingham County Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield, exactly one year ago today.

Kennecott (Rio Tinto) needs to be backed off their treacherous trail immediately. I'm writing to Senators Stabenow and Levin right now. It's the feds who have not approved yet, and it's the feds that need to step up the volume on their disapproval.