Sulfide mining media canoe trip

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BWCAW guide Jason Zabokrtsky explains to reporters where they are paddling in relation to mining activity while photographers capture the moment.

On Thursday, June 17, the Friends and Border Lakes Outfitting organized a canoe trip for reporters along the South Kawishiwi River. The area is ground zero of exploration for new sulfide mines, and is just a few miles from the edge of the Boundary Waters.

The reporters, photographers, Boundary Waters guide and outfitter Jason Zabokrtsky, and Friends staff paddled several miles from the South Kawishiwi River BWCAW entry point downstream toward Birch Lake.

Along the route, the group saw the beautiful, wild area that is being targeted for mine development (primarily by Duluth Metals). The group also visited the area’s Outward Bound camp and cabin-owners who are already being affected by the intense exploratory activity occurring in the area.

Minnesota Public Radio

Stephanie Hemphill, MPR’s award-winning environment reporter, joined the trip and produced an excellent piece about the issue, looking in-depth at what is occurring, what the effects of drilling and other exploration activities have already been, and the concerns of local citizens about the potential pollution from mines.

Excerpt:

A trickle of water runs from a six-inch hole Duluth Metals is drilling some 3,000 feet into the earth, seeping into a pit that holds water and a scum of grey muck, finely ground rock from deep in the earth. [Steve] Koschak [owner of River Point Resort] says it probably contains copper and nickel traces.

“But look what it’s going into, a wetland,” he says.  “That’s all this is, is a network of spruce swamps, all interconnected, this all goes into Birch Lake, all this water.”

When the drilling is done, workers will bury the muck on site as required by the state. Duluth Metals says there won’t be enough mineral waste to be any cause for concern.

The drilling is a precursor to what could be a deep shaft mine, more than half mile below the surface of the earth.  A mine would produce many tons of ground-up waste sulfide rock.  When it’s brought to the surface, a chemical reaction occurs that produces sulfuric acid.  If the rock is not carefully isolated from air and water, it can acidify nearby streams and wetlands — possibly enough to poison the life in the water.

“At the edge of the Boundary Waters, miners probe for copper, nickel”

Duluth News Tribune

John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune also joined the trip and wrote a story about the potential economic value of the minerals, and about the concerns of pollution that could come from mines.

Excerpt:

Kawishiwi, mining opponents note, is Ojibwe for endless waters. While the PolyMet project is in the Lake Superior watershed, Duluth Metals is in the BWCAW watershed that flows north to Hudson Bay.

“The Boundary Waters is like one giant river flowing in and out of little lakes, that will flow right past all this (Duluth Metals) mining activity and then right back into the Boundary Waters,” said canoe guide Jason Zabokrtsky of Ely. “Anything that happens here will spread.”

Along a recent canoe trip sponsored by critics of copper mining, other wilderness supporters explained their concerns.

“No one is suggesting that these companies would pollute the water on purpose. But after BP and the coal mine disasters this year, it’s pretty clear that things happen that no one plans for and that they can’t stop.” said Tyler Fish of Ely, youth program coordinator at the Out­ward Bond Camp on the Kawi­shi­wi River. “People come here because it’s a place apart. How can it be a place apart with a mine across the road?”

“Estimated $1 trillion in the ground, but mining critics are concerned about BWCAW”

Thank you!

The following people and businesses made invaluable contributions to the event and the Friends is extremely appreciative for their help:

Thanks as well to Tyler Fish, Bob and Pat Tammen, Carla Arneson, and others who took the time to speak with the reporters. And last but not least, thank you to Stephanie Hemphill of MPR and John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune for taking the time to do the trip and give the issue the excellent coverage they did!