PolyMet's EIS in-process

PolyMet's EIS in-process

February 4th, 2010 |

Anonymous

NEXT STEPS: Agencies are preparing a Supplemental EIS, expected some time in 2011. It will include responses to the unprecedented 3,800+ public comments submitted by February 3, 2010. It will be expanded to include the impacts of the proposed land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service. And it will include the U.S. EPA, which has authority to veto the project, as a cooperating agency. There will be another public comment period on the Supplemental EIS.

Send PolyMet to Summer School petition campaign -- Thanks for your signatures requesting the responsible government agencies produce a supplemental or revised draft EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) for the PolyMet mine proposal, complete with an additional public comment period, before proceeding to the final Environmental Impact Statement.

The lead agencies and the company haven't done their homework. One must be very skeptical -- "If this is indicative of the quality assurance they would offer residents that this toxic type of mining new to Minnesota will not pollute the valuable freshwater resources of the state and Lake Superior basin?"

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave its assessment of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) published for the first proposed sulfide mine in MN: the PolyMet NorthMet copper mine.

"Based on our review of the DEIS, EPA has rated the DEIS as Environmentally
Unsatisfactory - Inadequate, or EU-3. Environmentally Unsatisfactory (EU)
indicates that our review has identified adverse environmental impacts that
are of sufficient magnitude that the EPA believes the proposed action must
not proceed as proposed."  READ more EPA Findings ...

The PolyMet DEIS flunked both tests used by the EPA. By giving the PolyMet NorthMet DEIS its lowest possible ratings, the EPA has confirmed our concerns that the PolyMet open-pit sulfide mine will result in unacceptable harm and that the DEIS underestimates project impacts. Read WaterLegacy's press release.

WaterLegacy comments on the inadequate PolyMet DEIS

What’s Wrong with the PolyMet DEIS?

Excerpt ... "The purpose of an EIS under both federal and state law is to identify what mitigation would be needed to prevent a proposed federal or state action in permitting a project from resulting in pollution, impairment or destruction of human health and natural resources. If the economics of extraction of ores from the NorthMet deposit don’t permit basic mitigation measures, such as building a lined tailings basin on a solid foundation, treating discharges to remove sulfates and heavy metals, mitigating water and air pollutants that impair human health and violate standards and replacing impacted wetlands, either PolyMet has created overly inflated expectations in its investors or the NorthMet site has an inadequately rich deposit to permit exploitation. Part of the function of a properly written EIS is to assist project proponents in making the calculation of whether they can “do the project right” and protect the environment. If investors cannot reduce their profits or commodity markets cannot support high enough metals prices to justify mining this deposit under environmentally protective conditions, this project should go no further."

Public participation threatened:

See WaterLegacy's Public Participation menu.

PolyMet DEIS is wholly inadequate, charged WaterLegacy.

November 3, 2009 Press release summarizes missing pieces for public review and comment on this incomplete document.

Citizen Comments on the PolyMet Project and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) are Critical!

Comments from members of the public and the communities likely to be affected by a project are critical to whether that project is given adequate scrutiny.

Responsibile governmental agencies look to members of the community as well as “experts” to decide whether to push a project through permitting or take extra care to make sure that natural resources, like water and wetlands, are protected.

Please take the time to make your voice heard on the adequacy and completeness of the Draft EIS that has been released for the PolyMet Project.

Click here to send a letter to the agencies responsible for the Draft EIS and the PolyMet Project. You can edit the letter and add additional issues (click for Talking Points).

THE DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS was FEBRUARY 3, 2010. Visit the WaterLegacy DEIS comments page for more information.

See Local Minnesota News for the announcement by DNR of November 2, 2009 publishing date for the PolyMet Draft EIS. The full set of documents are available on the DNR website.

NOTE: Environmental, faith-based and other public interest groups suspect the PolyMet Draft EIS will be nearly as incomplete as previous versions. Agencies involved have provided comments on shortcomings. This is not acceptable.

The DNR, by law and rule, under the direction of the Governor must do a thorough job of completing the EIS, which forms the basis for permit conditions when the DNR issues a permit to mine. The published Draft EIS is the chief opportunity that the public is supposed to have to assess the project and comment on its contents. If there is missing information in the environmental review, the public interest is not served. Delaying or deferring elements that belong in the DEIS is irresponsible and may be illegal.

What you can do?

Because it has not been proven safe to mine sulfide ores in Minnesota, permitting agencies should not issue a permit to mine for PolyMet or any other company to do metallic sulfide mining at this time. You can print or download, circulate and return the petition requesting "... all State and Federal authorities with jurisdiction to deny any request for a permit to mine metals associated with sulfur-bearing rock".
You can contact the DNR (Marty Vadis, Director of Lands and Minerals Div. marty.vadis@dnr.state.mn.us (651) 259-5959, fax (651) 296-5939) and copy the Governor and any other state or local officials you feel are relevant to the PolyMet project, expressing your desire to have the complete information included and an adequate period to comment on the Draft EIS.
You can join WaterLegacy (free).
Below, you can click on the links to select agencies' cover letters in response to the PDEIS and previous CPDEIS. For the company's and federal and state agencies' detailed comments, you can request the "Agency Comments" directly from DNR or via the WaterLegacy contact page.
You can get on the DNR notification list for PolyMet documents, including receiving an electronic or paper copy of the PolyMet Draft EIS if and when it is available. Contact Stuart Arkley stuart.arkley@dnr.state.mn.us (651) 297-5082.

Citizens are following the development of PolyMet's Environmental Impact Statememt (EIS) documents through successive revisions. For your convenience, here are posted all of the recent "PDEIS" or Preliminary Draft EIS text and figures. These were released July 31, 2009 for internal review by the agencies involved, who have 30 days to respond with their staff's comments.

Below, for comparison, is the text of the previous version of the CPDEIS, released December 2008. (Figures are nearly identical, so are not repeated.)

NOTICE: Readers are advised that these documents are presented here only for informational purposes, as an indication of the factors addressed at one point in time (end of 2008 or July,2009), not of the eventual content of the Draft EIS. When the DEIS is released for public comment, its content is likely to be significantly different. -- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Contact: Stuart Arkley Email: stuart.arkley@dnr.state.mn.us Phone: (651) 259-5089

You may ask WaterLegacy for assistance in preparing your own comments on the eventual Draft EIS. Progress updates can be found on the DNR’s web site after the DEIS is published for public comment.

Also available as a public service are the comments of participating agencies on the July 2009 (PDEIS) and the December 2008 (CPDEIS) versions of the PolyMet EIS documents. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered several inadequacies with the current draft. Tribal comments also detail serious shortcomings.

PolyMet's Preliminary Draft Environmental Impact Statement (PDEIS) text (July 2009)

You can see the entire text, figures, tables and supporting files by clicking the links below. PolyMet Docs 7-31-09

CD_Content_Note_Aug_09.pdf
NorthMet_PDEIS_July_31_2009_Vol_1-Text.pdf (Full text of 561 pages, in one large file)

All Text Files PDF 7-31-09 (Full text, in individual files for each chapter)

TOC_7-31-09.pdf
Cover_DEIS_7-31-2009_-_Text_Cover.pdf
Acronyms_and_Definitions_DEIS_7-30-09.pdf
1.0_Introduction_DEIS_7-30-2009.pdf
2.0_Scoping_Process_DEIS_7-30-2009.pdf
3.0_Proposed_Action_and_Project_Alternatives_DEIS_07-31-09.pdf
4.1_Water_Resources_PD_deis_7-31-09.pdf
4.2_Wetlands_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
4.3_Vegetation_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
4.4_Wildlife_DEIS_07-31-09.pdf
4.5_Fish_and_Macroinvertebrates_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
4.6_Air_Chapter_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
4.7_Noise_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
4.8_Cultural_Resources_DEIS_07-31-09.pdf
4.9_Compatibility_DEIS_07_31_09.pdf
4.10_Socioeconomics_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
4.11_Visual_Resources_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
4.12_Haz_Materials_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
4.13_Geotechnical_Stability_7-31-09.pdf
4.14_Cumulative_Effects_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
5.0_Comparison_of_Alternatives_DEIS_7-31-09.pdf
6.0_Irreversible_or_Irretrievable_7-29-09.pdf
7.0_References_DEIS_07_31_09.pdf
8.0_List_of_Preparers_DEIS_7-29-09.pdf

All Figures (Figures for earlier sections available by request from WaterLegacy. Very few have significant revisions in this PDEIS version.)

PolyMet's "Complete" Preliminary Draft Environmental Impact Statement (CPDEIS) text (December 2008).

NOTICE: Readers are advised that this document is presented here only for informational purposes, as an indication of the factors addressed at one point in time (end of 2008), not of the eventual content of the Draft EIS. When the DEIS is released for public comment, its content is likely to be significantly different. CPDEIS Content Notes

Text CPDEIS_12-20-08

Figures (partial list of figures and tables. Most have not changed in July 2009 PDEIS posted above.)

FIG1-1-1 NorthMet-Vicinity Map
FIG1-1-2 NorthMet-Project Site Map
FIG3-1-1 NorthMet-Project Site Map

PM Docs Since Oct 1 2008 These are interim technical documents included merely for reference. For PM documents developed before this date, please use the contact form to request them.

ALT08 LTV-AREA5-OVB-THICKNESS-POINTS Model
GC05 Overburden Analysis_Draft Report_1UP005.001_sjd_20081021
GT-03 Tailings Deposition Memo 11 17 08
GT-04 PolyMet TB Permeability Summary 08 01 08
HD01 Changes to Embarrass River Low Flow Modeling 101408
HD02 Dunka Road Concentrations_Memo_CDP_20081024
HD04 Residential Well Sampling Plan - MPCA Approval
HD04 Residential Well Sampling Plan
HD04 Table 2_revised_121208
RS57 Stationary and Mobile Source Emission Calcs Draft-03
RS82_Kinetic_test_report_1UP005001 sd 20081212 FNL
UA01-5 Partial Narrative and UA01 A D E F G I
UA01-5 Partial Narrative_ Part 4_Pondwater_jtcFINAL_201008
UA01-6 Barr 9-4-08 Memo TB Cover Efficiency
UA01-6 Barr 9-4-08 Memo TB Cover Efficiency_attacement

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Tags: Polymet