Wisconsin’s Moratorium
on Sulfide Mining

Although iron ore mining indeed is an integral part of our U.P. economy, the Yellow Dog Plains itself has no history of mining: it is a non-industrialized area with a long and current tradition of forestry, tourism, and wilderness camps.

As I walk the campaign trail, I share the fact that our neighbor to the south, Wisconsin, has long experience with sulfide mining. Their experience has resulted in an amended statute which effectively stops this type of mining in Wisconsin.

Here is their amended law:

[Wisconsin 1997 Act 171: Mining Moratorium Law

In April 1998, then-Governor Tommy Thompson signed 1997 Wisconsin Act 171 into law. This law amended the metallic mining statute to establish an additional provision that an applicant for a metallic mining permit must meet in order to receive a mining permit. Commonly referred to as the “Mining Moratorium Law” (s. 293.50 Wisconsin Statutes), the law requires an applicant to provide examples of a mining operation in the U.S. or Canada that have not resulted in significant environmental pollution. The law includes specific qualifying criteria that must be satisfied in order for the example site, or sites, to be considered. The mining company must submit documentation from groundwater/surface water monitoring that includes data showing that:

(1) An example mine has been closed for 10 years without the pollution of groundwater or surface water from acid drainage at the tailings site or at the mine site or from the release of heavy metals; and

(2) An example mine has operated for 10 years without the pollution of groundwater or surface water from acid drainage at the tailings site or at the mine site or from the release of heavy metals.

In addition, the candidate mine or mines identified must be located in a sulfide ore body that together with the host rock has a net acid generation potential (i.e. the potential to create acid drainage). Furthermore, the candidate mine cannot be listed on the national priorities list of contaminated sites, and cannot be an operation for which the operator is no longer in business and has no successor that may be liable for contamination.

The Department must verify the information and present its recommendations on satisfying the requirements of the Mining Moratorium Law before a mining permit can be issued.]

I am the only candidate who will seek to amend our sulfide mining law.