Posted on March 23, 2021
Move to allow EPA to conduct review required by Clean Water Act
REGIONAL— Another major permit for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes has been suspended until further notice as a result of a court ruling. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has pulled the project’s wetland impact permit after the Environmental Protection Agency requested to undertake additional review steps as required by the Clean Water Act.
The latest blow to the PolyMet proposal stems from a 2019 lawsuit filed by the Fond du Lac Band, which alleged that the EPA had failed to hold a hearing on the downstream impacts of the mining project, which will expose sulfide ores, known to cause acid drainage. A federal district court judge found in favor of the Fond du Lac in February, holding that the EPA had a legal duty to inform the Band that the project “may affect” their downstream waters, and to hold a hearing to examine the issue. That never happened.
The EPA, in response, asked the judge for a voluntary remand to complete the steps necessary to comply with federal law. The judge granted that motion earlier this month, and the Army Corps agreed to the EPA’s request to suspend the permit until it can complete the steps required by law.
But the review may involve more than simply going through the motions. “The outcome of EPA’s “may affect” determination may require the Corps to reconsider the 404 [wetlands] permit,” wrote Karl Jansen, a district engineer with the Army Corp. “It is therefore necessary in consideration of the public interest to suspend the 404 permit while the EPA reconsiders effects on downstream water quality from the proposal,” wrote Jansen.
The PolyMet project, should it ultimately move forward, is expected to lead to the destruction of over 900 acres of wetlands in and around the mine site. That would make it the largest wetland impact ever permitted in Minnesota.
Several other permits previously issued for the project, including the Permit to Mine, are currently under suspension as a result of court action by environmental groups and the Fond du Lac Band.
