The PolyMet Mining Corporation has been locked in a battle to open Minnesota’s first copper-sulfide mine for over 17 years.
The Minnesota Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear a challenge by environmentalists over portions of a lower court ruling involving a key permit for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine.
The court ruled that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency hadn’t sufficiently justified granting the permit after opponents raised allegations that PolyMet was planning a much larger mine.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency was not required under federal law to investigate allegations by environmental groups and a Native American tribe of “sham permitting.”
PolyMet wants to build the first of what could eventually be several copper-nickel mines in Minnesota.
This second part in a series on mining in Minnesota looks at PolyMet’s proposed mine and its legal battles against Native and environmental groups.
PolyMet pointed out that the DNR has already held a 15-year-long environmental review and permitting process that included numerous chances for the public to weigh in.
This is the fourth permit the Court of Appeals has rejected this year.
Everyone concedes the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s handling of a water pollution permit for the controversial PolyMet project was far from normal. The big question is whether it was improper.
Support Provided By:
Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy & Environmental Programs
Polk Family Fund
