NO WALK IN THE PARK!

(Green Bay Press Gazette, Frazer Chronicle)

 

I can’t take it anymore, things are being said and intimations are being made that are totally untrue, I know because I’ve spent years researching the subject. Iron mining in Wisconsin ain’t pretty, iron mining in Michigan ain’t pretty, and iron mining in Minnesota ain’t pretty. Iron mining of any type, above ground or below ain’t pretty. Whenever you extract something from the ground…..in any amount, it is bound to leave a scar; it’s just the nature of the beast.

 

The time involved before the first ounce of ore is produced will take years, possibly decade; it’s the slow, cumbersome process of mining, almost as if local, state and federal agencies are testing the mettle of the mining company, you know, to see exactly how serious these people really are.

 

The jobs created, the money that will flow, and the associated business’s that will be developed are all side benefits of any mining operation. If a mining operation is big enough, and lasts long enough, benefits that are realized could be around for generations.

 

Mining companies are always benevolent to the communities that they work in, and in fact the companies use their resources to enhance the areas worked through taxes, donations, and the establishment of all sorts of things that many communities can only dream about, especially smaller communities in the out of the way places mining is usually carried on.

 

Health clinics, school building upgrades, company housing, company stores, upgrades to community water, sewer systems, and streets, village centers, and other town benefits. Fire departments, police departments and existing hospital facilities also benefit from a mining companies existence.

 

Mining companies also promote their own candidates for political offices, sit on committees, can be members of banking Boards of Directors, and have infiltrated city, county and even state governing agencies…..all to benefit their one overriding desire…..to gain as much as possible for their bottom line.

 

In the past, mining companies have influenced not only political positions, they also have had a heavy hand in local law enforcement agencies, and have handpicked many mining inspectors, all with one driving desire…..the bottom line.

 

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW

In the beginning, in the 1840’s, 50’s, 60’s and 1870’s, where there was nothing, just a snarl of trees and underbrush, no roads, no rail service and lawlessness at every turn, mining companies of all types, copper, silver, gold, zinc and iron brought civilization to the wilds of almost every sector of the land.

 

The civilization that was brought into these wild places was…..narrow, short sited, and of course favored the mining company’s concerns. The people that were attracted to these holes in the ground were adventuresome, rough and tumble types that were exploited at every turn by the mining companies. The work was tough, dangerous, and had a comparatively short history for many of the early industries workers.

 

The basic concept of most mining projects is relatively the same as it was a hundred years ago and more, to extract precious elements from the ground. It still takes tough mostly men to work in a mining site today, safety rules and regulations are much better than they were 10 or 12 decades ago. Injury and death records are much better today than they were in the early days of mining.

Still…..there still are accidents, and still deaths in the mines, safety advocates and mining companies point with pride to how the numbers of both injury and deaths have fallen through the years. Actually the fact of the matter that reduced mishaps and fatalities are directly correlated to less mining activity in every mining industry today.

 

In 1900 there were more than 100 active iron mines just in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, producing millions of ton of direct ship ore. At the same time, more than 5000 men worked the mines, so today, when somebody points to the exemplary safety record in the iron mines in the Lake Superior region, remember that there are now only four active mines in operation.

 

The year reads 2013, but in reality, the attitude is the same as it was 100 years ago, to push the miner to produce as much ore as possible, at break neck speed, and to hell with safety precautions for the miner, or to the environment.

 

RECLAIMING THE LAND

I read with some humor an article in today’s, March 31, 2013 Green Bay Press Gazette, authored by investigative reporter, Kathlee Foody, and as far as her article went, it was fine…..but! She quoted Minnesota state officials regarding reclamation activity after the mines in Minnesota are shut down.

 

Not only is the land on and around the mining site affected rail service into and out of the mining area will be a major concern. In the old days of mining, each mine site had a rail line for its use. Iron ore, whether a hundred years ago or today, is hauled by train to waiting ore docks loaded unto ore ships and shipped to the lower Great Lakes and the blast furnaces in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.

 

When you cut a ditch half a mile wide, 500 feet deep and up to 20 miles long, the land in the path of the mine can never be reclaimed, there is no reclamation program that is in existence or affordable to make the land like it was. In the Press Gazette article today, there was no mention of Palmer, Michigan, an old mining town of maybe 200 residences.

 

The Empire open pit mine is situated less than a mile from the little village, and mining activity has been carried on at the site since the 1960’s. North of Palmer are 500 foot piles of waste rock that surround the Empire pit that is more than 1100 feet below sea level. The pit still produces enough ore for the pelletizing process that Taconite uses.

 

There are millions upon millions of ton of waste rock, and when the winds whip up to 20 or 30 miles an hour, the red hazy dust that is produced looks exactly like a sand storm that would occur in Arizona or New Mexico. It’s okay though, every few years the local mining company comes in and re-paints the residence homes…..of course when the winds not blowing.

 

JOB TRAINING

Well ya, another problem that the Northern Wisconsin mine will have, training a work force…..so with ground breaking possibly 10 years down the road, training and technical colleges will need to…..well, I’m not sure, why would a tech school offer courses for an industry that might happen in 5, 10, or more years away.

 

So guess what will initially happen, all those jobs that Wisconsin’s Madison government talks about will happen, but most key positions will be manned by people from other regions of the country, like Upper Michigan, or the wilds of Minnesota.

 

You probably think that I am against Gogebic Taconite and their plans to open up another iron range southwest of the old Penokee range in Michigan and Wisconsin, but I’m not, I actually am an advocate of industry…..almost any kind, what I’m against is the attitudes.

 

The iron mining industry has blown so much smoke for so many years that they start believing their own bull----. Iron mining, silver mining, gold mining or copper mining is first and foremost abrasive to the land, and large areas will never be the same, and large portions won’t even be able to be walked over, I can show you portions of Ishpeming, Michigan where a person takes his/her own life into their hands whenever they venture onto a restricted area.

 

It’s true. Call me, Kathlee Foody, I can show you some really nice looking property in either Ishpeming or Negaunee, Michigan that is uninhabitable. Of course these are underground mines, but open pit mining has its dangers also, like the pits filling with water after they are abandoned. Every once in a while you’ll read about a kid drowning in some open pit mine, or falling down the rock face and breaking a leg, arm, back or neck.

 

Rules and regulations were made through the experiences of the past, and for the Wisconsin legislature to have gutted some of these rules is tantamount to reckless and uneducated behavior. If you do not know what you are talking about, take a visit, or ask an independent about the pitfalls that are categorically inherent to every mineral extraction project.

 

Transparency above board negotiations and addressing each and every problem with regards to a mining project are necessary for any successful mining operation. Two topics that haven’t even been addressed here is the massive amounts of electrical power and water that will be needed for an open pit operation, the amounts will be unbelievable.

 

Infrastructure is also another area that I haven’t touched on, but the current road system in and around the Mellon and Hurley, Wisconsin, area leave something to be desired…..for the big trucks and equipment that will be necessary to operate the mine. The machinery won’t be built at the mine site; it will be trucked in from points south and west, and take it from a guy that has driven a big rig in the area, the roads won’t make it as they now exist.

 

Gogebic Taconite’s plan would be a boon to Northern Wisconsin, but a key and the watch word should be caution, careful planning and some sort of impact study on the area with regards to the environment, business, the people, and exactly how long the effort to harvest the iron ore will last. Because in the end, gold gleams, silver sparkles, copper is shinny, but iron ore outlasts them all.

 

HAVE A GOOD DAY!