News Room

Media Contact

WaterLegacy welcomes media inquiries.

Media Contact: Paula Maccabee, Executive Director and Counsel

Phone (office): 651-646-8890
Phone (cell): 651-775-7128
Email: paula@waterlegacy.org

WaterLegacy in the News

Minnesota court upholds wild rice sulfate limits downstream of mine

Duluth News Tribune | March 31, 2025

“Paula Maccabee, executive director and counsel for environmental group WaterLegacy, celebrated the court’s decision.

“It’s just a very simple opinion, it’s really easy to understand, and basically, it’s telling the MPCA, ‘You did the right thing to regulate, and you’re not stuck with that equation that was thrown out by the administrative law judge,'” Maccabee said, referring to the MPCA’s previous attempt at replacing the 10 ppm sulfate limit with a formula that would have included the water’s organic carbon and iron content. The agency withdrew its rule change proposal in 2018 after an administrative law judge said it was “unconstitutionally void for vagueness.””

MEDIA RELEASE: Court Upholds Denial of "Site Specific" Sulfate Standard for Hay Lake Downstream of U.S. Steel Keetac Mine Pollution

WaterLegacy | March 31, 2025

Today, the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued a unanimous decision affirming the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) decision denying U.S. Steel a “site-specific” standard that would have been nearly eight times less stringent than Minnesota’s wild rice sulfate standard of 10 parts per million. U.S. Steel had appealed the MPCA’s decision, arguing that the MPCA was required to apply the equation rejected in administrative hearings in 2018, rather than analyzing recent literature and the condition of wild rice in Hay Lake. 

DNR Dilemma

Ampers / North Star Stories | March 14, 2025

“The appeal court’s ruling now faces an uncertain future as the case moves to the Minnesota Supreme Court, the outcome remains pivotal. This could either stand as a significant step toward legal accountability and heighten scrutiny on these issues, or it could be reversed, leaving critical environmental and safety concerns unresolved.”
—R. Vincent Moniz Jr.

R. Vincent Moniz Jr. of Ampers / North Star Stories spoke with WaterLegacy Executive Director and Counsel Paula Maccabee about WaterLegacy’s ongoing litigation on Mile Post 7.

Local View: Hay Lake should be healthy; Keetac drainage a problem

Opinion by Mike Maleska for Duluth News Tribune | February 18, 2025

“Hay Lake is a water body I’ve known well for 60 years. […] As kids, a good friend of mine and I hunted, roamed, fished, and explored all over this area.

I remember the water entering Hay Lake was clear. There was a beautiful long sandbar and behind that sandbar was where the wild rice beds began, spreading around the west and south sides of the lake and continuing down Hay Creek.

For decades now, though, the water has come to appear tan with a hint of greyish green; it is definitely not clear.”

Minnesota DNR urged to reconsider environmental review for Mile Post 7 tailings project

Quetico Superior Wilderness News | February 6, 2025

“Executive Director and Counsel Paula Maccabee said, “This is an important victory. The Court’s ruling rejects Northshore’s claims that its massive tailings dam expansion is exempt from environmental review. It warns the DNR that previous environmental reviews and permits do not allow them to bypass scrutiny of a proposed mining project.””

About WaterLegacy

WaterLegacy is an award-winning 501(c)(3) non-profit grassroots organization founded in 2009 to protect Minnesota waters and the communities that rely on them, particularly from sulfide mining pollution. Most of WaterLegacy’s board members live and work in northern Minnesota.

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