Protect Water & Wild Rice!
On September 3rd we attended a public hearing about draft pollution permits for U.S. Steel - Keetac, a taconite minE on Minnesota’s Iron Range.
For decades, Keetac and other iron ore mines in the region have been dumping high sulfide wastewater into rivers, lakes, and groundwater.
According to the U.S. EPA, Keetac exceeded permitted limits for sulfate nearly 300 times between 2019 and 2022!
Draft permits from Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency or MPCA — if approved and enforced — would limit pollution discharged into our waterways, and would force compliance with standards created to protect manoomin or wild rice.
READ MORE ABOUT THIS DEBATE FROM THESE LOCAL NEWS SOURCES>>>
At this public hearing, mining industry representatives spoke about Hay Lake — a water body directly downstream from the current Keetac waste pit.
They claimed that the wild rice in Hay Lake was abundant, healthy, and ‘growing like crazy’ — and a limit on sulfate discharge is not needed.
One outspoken advocate for the industry — Minnesota Representative Spencer Igo (R, 7A) — implored the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), journalists, and other visitors to the region to “take a look around,” so we did that.
Below Are Some of Our Videos & Photos* >>>
* These are available to community for use in advocacy efforts — if attribution is necessary, Please Wildflower Group (wldflwrgrp.org)
