White Iron Chain Of Lakes Association

DNR to host public information meeting in advance of PolyMet permit application

DNR NEWS – March 17, 2016

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is hosting a public information meeting on Tuesday, April 19, about PolyMet Mining, Inc.’s potential permit to mine application for its proposed NorthMet project. The meeting will be at Mesabi East High School, 601 North 1st St. W., Aurora, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The purpose of the meeting is to inform the public that PolyMet might submit a permit to mine application and to provide an overview of the permitting process. Under state rules, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Environmental Quality Board, St. Louis County and the cities of Babbitt, Aurora and Hoyt Lakes, which are near the proposed mine, have been invited to participate. The meeting is in Aurora to enable local government participation.

The meeting will include a formal presentation and an open house. The formal presentation, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will provide an overview of the proposed mining project and the permit to mine process. It will also include a brief summary of the other state permits that may be required for the project. State agency staff and PolyMet representatives will be available during the open house to answer questions about the permit to mine process and other permit processes, such as tailings dam safety, water quality, air quality, wetlands and others.

Project permit applications have not yet been submitted. Formal public comment on permits will not be taken at this point. However, if applications are received, there will be future opportunities to both obtain information about the applications and review and comment on draft permit decisions.

State agencies are currently developing a centralized website for the PolyMet permitting process. The DNR will announce when the website is ready through its email system and will post the presentation material from the meeting on April 19. The website will also include directions on how to sign up for updates on the permitting process.

About the NorthMet mine proposal

The proposed NorthMet mine project would be located in the St. Louis River watershed on the eastern edge of the Mesabi Iron Range, about 6 miles south of Babbitt and about 1 mile south of the existing iron-ore Northshore Mine. The ore would be processed at a former industrial site, the LTV plant in Hoyt Lakes.

The total project area would include the open pit mine, a processing plant, tailings basin and an existing 7-mile-long railroad corridor for ore transport between the mine and the processing plant.

NorthMet Mining Project and Land Exchange EIS

– Record of Decision March 3, 2016 Page 47 of 85

• Protected Areas. Regarding potential impacts to the BWCAW and Voyageurs National Park watershed, no direct, indirect, or cumulative effect for surface water flow or surficial groundwater flow are predicted.

• North Flow Path. During development of the Final EIS the Co-lead Agencies became aware of a potential for a north flow path of bedrock groundwater from the NorthMet Mine site to the existing Northshore Mine when both facilities are in closure. After evaluating the available information the Co-lead Agencies determined that the possibility of a north flow path induced by future operations at the Northshore Mine Site is unlikely, but cannot be ruled out completely. Potential bedrock groundwater flow from the Mine Site north to the Northshore Mine is proposed to be addressed through monitoring and contingency mitigation if needed. Monitoring requirements would be implemented, and if the possibility of a north flow of bedrock groundwater is detected, it would be prevented by contingency mitigation measures.

In November of last year, Governor Mark Dayton announced his plans to convene a statewide Water Quality Summit in February 2016.

Later this month, two WICOLA Board members, David Lee and Chris Chandler, will represent WICOLA at the Governor’s Water Summit. The Summit will focus public attention on the serious challenges facing Minnesota’s water supplies – in both rural and urban areas of the state – and continue statewide dialogue around steps that must be taken to address those challenges. It will bring together water quality experts, farmers, legislators, regulators, the business community, members of the public, local leaders, and a wide variety of other stakeholders. Unfortunately, registration for the event is now full, but we would like each of our members to complete the online survey ASAP. The information and input gathered from this survey will help inform the Administration and Legislature on Minnesota’s water quality challenges and possible solutions. It is important that property owners’ voices and concerns be heard! Open the following link or copy and paste into your browser:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pGJN1ECjBRbrFek2hjYVafrIYe4UfpqV6Tv7Ehl7k1c/viewform

OR, you can find the survey by searching for Minnesota Governor’s Water Summit.

From MPCA Weekly Digest:

As we begin the New Year, we wanted to provide a quick update on MPCA activities related to the wild rice sulfate standard revision.

The MPCA’s Request for Comments for the sulfate standard to protect wild rice ended on Friday, December 18, 2015.  Thanks to all of you who took the time to provide comments to us; they will be very helpful as we move into the rulemaking phase of this effort. Please note there will be additional opportunities for formal review and comment when the proposed rules are published in the State Register and during public hearings.

The agency received more than 600 comment letters.  All of the comments received are now posted on the wild rice rulemaking webpage https://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/sulfate-standard-protect-wild-rice under the “Rulemaking” tab.  Identical comment letters received from more than one person or group are listed once in the summary document with individual commenters and addresses from those identical letters listed in the accompanying spreadsheet.

MPCA staff continues to work on refinements to the wild rice waters definition, list of wild rice waters and refinement of the proposed approach that will become part of the Agency’s technical support document for the upcoming rulemaking. Please note that MPCA intends to submit the underlying scientific work for peer review via the scientific journal publication process. In addition, scientists are analyzing data from this summer’s sediment sampling of wild rice beds in order to evaluate the variability of total organic carbon and extractable iron in the sediments within wild rice waters. We expect this work to continue from January through March.

This is your chance to weigh in on the latest effort to protect wild rice which uses a complex equation to individualize standards to specific sites and includes multiple factors.

While the WICOLA newsletter has followed the process you may wish to read the specifics. A summary of the draft of the new standard and a proposed list of wild-rice lakes can be found at the MPCA website. www.pca.state.mn.us/ktqh1083

·         Scroll down a bit and find the display with tabs along the top margin.

·         The “Background” tab brings you to a link to the study summary.

·         The “Rule Making” tab will take you to “Request for Comments” There is a plain English version.

Although the rule making will not be completed until 2018 this is an early stage opportunity for public input. Comments must be submitted by 4:30 PM on Dec. 18, 2015.

You can submit directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Both of the above tabs include a sidebar enabling you to sign up to receive information on future developments and opportunities to comment.

Questions? Contact Carol Nankivel (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 651-757-2597). Or write her at MPCA IRMAD, 520 Lafayette Rd. St. Paul, MN 55155.

WICOLA

P.S. remember to renew your membership!

Several WICOLA Board members report Lake Ice Observations to the Minnesota DNR. Their observations will occasionally be posted here as a reverence to WICOLA members.

Remember, there really is no sure answer as to when Ice is safe. You can't judge the strength of ice just by its appearance, age, thickness, temperature, or whether or not the ice is covered with snow. Strength is based on all these factors -- plus the depth of water under the ice, size of the water body, currents, water chemistry, movement of fish, and the distribution of the load on the ice.

For more information on Ice Safety, follow this link to the Minnesota DNR website; http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/safety/ice/index.html

11/30/2015

White Iron was not open yesterday afternoon (11/29/15). Also this morning (11/30/15) White Iron was completely covered and still covered at 4 pm. So I would call White Iron ice in and covered for 11/29 unless it opens up with warm weather this week.

As a side note, the current 5 day forecast calls for high temperatures in the lower to mid 30’s with lows generally in the 20’s.

ST. PAUL, MN – This weekend, Governor Mark Dayton announced his plans to convene a statewide Water Quality Summit in February. The summit will focus public attention on the serious challenges facing Minnesota’s water supplies – in both rural and urban areas of the state – and continue statewide dialogue around steps that must be taken to address those challenges. The summit will include water quality experts, farmers, legislators, regulators, the business community, members of the public, local leaders, and a wide variety of other stakeholders.

“My father believed – as I believe – that stewardship is a profound responsibility of each of us. To take what we have been given – or have acquired – and leave it in better condition for those who will inherit from us,” said Governor Dayton. “This is everyone’s challenge, and everyone’s responsibility.”

In his remarks to the Minnesota Farm Bureau this weekend, Governor Dayton elaborated on the need for a statewide Water Quality Summit, and provided some additional information about what the summit may address. Audio of the Governor's remarks can be found here.

Additional details about the Governor's Water Quality Summit will be provided in the coming weeks by The Office of the Governor.

Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) are threatening Minnesota waters. These non-native species harm fish populations, water quality and water recreation. The Lake County and St. Louis County Plans outline the efforts that each county will undertake to help prevent the spread of harmful AIS.

The Lake County Aquatic Invasive Species Plan can be found on the County’s Website at: http://www.co.lake.mn.us/departments/soil_and_water_conservation_district/invasive_species.php

The St. Louis County Aquatic Invasive Species Plan can be found on the County’s Website at: http://www.stlouiscountymn.gov/LANDPROPERTY/CommunityDevelopment/AquaticInvasiveSpecies.aspx

Congratulations to Jo Kovach, past WICOLA President and current WICOLA Board Member, for her new appointment to the Lake Co. SWCD Board! Jo will be finishing the term as District 1 Supervisor that was recently vacated. 

The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), one of the cooperating agencies in the PolyMet project, recently challenged the model provided by PolyMet which indicated that all waters from the project would flow south to the St. Louis River. GLIFWC’s analysis of the model shows that the major contaminant flow would run north into the Rainy River Basin. For more information, see a recently published article GLIFWC

For recent information and concerns expressed about the Dunka Pit that flows into Birch Lake and the Rainy River Basin, read the article Dunka Pit. 

The USFS has released notification that the Superior National Forest has completed the environmental assessment (EA) for the Twin Metals Minnesota Hydrogeologic Study Special Use Permit and is providing a 30-day comment period on the proposed activity and analysis described in the EA. The EA “discloses the effects of special use authorization permits to access, use, and occupy national forest system lands in order to collect baseline hydrogeologic (ground water) environmental data. The proposed hydrogeologic study area is located near the South Kawishiwi River and Birch Lake approximately 7 miles southeast of Ely, Minnesota.”

The EA is available for your review at http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=40756” along with instructions for providing written comments.

Note: The USFS indicates that “no mining has been proposed in the South Kawishiwi area.” As one of our members, who reviewed the proposal pointed out, this activity may not have immediate effects on our water, but could have implications in the future if mining activity occurs.

On October 13, 2015 members of the WICOLA Board attended the Winton Hydro Annual Meeting. To help our members understand the purpose and importance of WICOLA’s involvement, the following is a brief summary of how this annual event began.

In 2004, ALLETE (Minnesota Power) was granted a new license to continue operation and maintenance of the 4.0-megawatt Winton Hydroelectric Project. This Project occupies 365 acres of federal lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service. This Project consists of 2 developments; the Winton Development and the Birch lake development.

·         The Winton Development consists of a 2,339 foot long concrete dam and embankments, a powerhouse containing 2 generating units with a combined installed capacity of 4.0MW, and 2,983-acre Garden Lake Reservoir comprising Garden Lake, Farm Lake, South Farm and Friday Lake.

·         The Birch Lake Development consists of a 227 foot long concrete dam and 7,624-acre Birch Lake Reservoir. The Birch Lake reservoir is used for water storage to supplement winter water flow used for hydroelectric power generation at the Winton Development.

ALLETE prepared its license application using the alternative licensing process, and filed an Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment (APEA) with the license application. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Public Notice once the APEA was ready for environmental analysis soliciting comments and recommendations. In response to comments received from the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Minnesota DNR, ALLETE filed what is called a “Settlement Agreement” that includes conditions to Protect and Enhance fish and wildlife resources, recreational resources, and other related issues. In addition to ALLETE, the Settlement Agreement was signed by the US Forest Service, Minnesota DNR, White Iron Chain of Lakes Association, and Conservationists with Common Sense.

The Settlement Agreement sets out the background, purpose, use, implementation, general conditions, and terms for its execution. The agreement addresses the signatories various concerns related to project operation, fish and wildlife resource enhancements, recreation resources, and other related subjects.

Some of the agreement topics of interest to WICOLA include;

-          Target Lake Levels for Garden & Birch Lake

-          Streamflow gauges equipped with telemetry & real time online access

-          Erosion control plans

-          Water quality plan that may be affected by operations including water drawdown

-          Measures to protect, mitigate, and enhance terrestrial and fisheries habitat.

-          Recreational Plans and Enhancements

The Annual Meeting allows all parties to the Settlement Agreement the opportunity to meet and review; License Requirements, Settlement Agreement Terms, Monitoring & Operational Issues, Resource Protection, and any additional new business.

2015 Water Policy Report proposes solutions to Minnesota's pressing water challenges

St. Paul, Minn. (9/17/15)– Yesterday afternoon, at a meeting of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB), a new study called Beyond the Status Quo: 2015 EQB Water Policy Report  was approved. The document proposes solutions to safeguard one of Minnesota's most valuable natural resources.  

“The Beyond the Status Quo report gives us a roadmap for promoting clean water and water conservation. It shows us how water can be a competitive advantage for Minnesota,” said Lt. Governor Tina Smith. “Minnesota companies and communities are developing new solutions to prevent water pollution and reduce water consumption. This report tells this story, and gives us excellent direction for how to make progress.”

The water policy report is the result of collaboration across state agencies to identify goals and propose solutions to preserve and promote water quality and sustainability. 

“Too often we see economic growth and environmental stewardship as incompatible,”said Will Seuffert, Executive Director of the EQB. “With a nation-leading water industry growing at a rate three times the state economy, it is apparent that we can protect our water resources and grow our economy at the same time.”

The report recommends options for reducing runoff, increasing infiltration on urban and agricultural lands, and identifying vulnerabilities to extreme rainfall to make communities more resilient.

“From farming to fishing, Minnesota’s water resources are vital to our way of life,” said Dave Frederickson, Chairman of the EQB. “This report looks at a range of steps that communities and individuals can take to keep our water clean and usable.”

This water report details both the industry’s economic status and opportunities to improve water infrastructure, efficiency and reuse.

“We are fortunate to have abundant lakes and river resources in Minnesota. We need them to be fishable and swimmable, and the choices we make today affect Minnesota for decades to come,” said John Linc Stine, EQB member and commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

The EQB is made up of 9 state agency heads and 5 citizen members and is charged with developing long-range strategies to enhance Minnesota’s environmental quality. For more details about the agency, please visit; https://www.eqb.state.mn.us/. 

Thanks to all the volunteers who contributed to a successful water monitoring season! On Tuesday, September 15, volunteers from WICOLA, Bob D., Chris C., Dave S., and Teresa S., spent a beautiful fall day on WICOL to finish up the water monitoring season. Also, thanks go to WICOL volunteers Bud C. and Dave C. and the many other volunteers who monitored on WICOL, Birch and Fall Lakes this summer.