Environmental Groups File BWCA Mining Lawsuit

This Follows a Lawsuit Filed Last Week by Nine MN Businesses

DULUTH, Minn. – A lawsuit was filed Monday morning by conservation groups The Wilderness Society, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Izaak Walton League of America, all represented by Earthjustice, to challenge the reinstatement of federal mining leases near the BWCA Wilderness.

The group’s lawsuit follows last week’s lawsuit filed by nine Minnesota businesses that aim to protect the recreation area from mining.

Both parties believe the pollution from the sulfide-ore copper mining facility would be detrimental to the water quality of the waterways and would threaten the wilderness of the Boundary Waters area.

“Protected in the 1964 Wilderness Act, the Boundary Waters is one of America’s most beloved wilderness areas,” said Jamie Williams, President of The Wilderness Society. “Creating the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was a promise to protect these interconnected lands and waters in their natural state for generations to come. Sulfide-ore mining on the edge of this iconic wilderness would replace a legacy of conservation and recreation with pollution and environmental degradation. This Interior Department continues to make mining and drilling the highest priority for our public lands, even when it threatens the nation’s wildest places.”

The Department of Interiors reinstated two expired federal mineral leases in May which puts Twin Metals one step closer in its plans to build an ore processing facility near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Twin Metals says the facility would not threaten the environment and the project would still need to follow strict regulations and guidelines.