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News Release 6-09
Conservationists announce intent to file lawsuit over water pollution from Flambeau Mine
During mid-June a Wisconsin conservation group and two individuals formally notified the Flambeau Mining Company (FMC) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that they intend to file a lawsuit over water pollution caused by the partially reclaimed Flambeau Mine, near Ladysmith, Wisconsin, unless the pollution and related issues are fully addressed within 30 days by FMC and the DNR.
The formal notification letter was sent to FMC and the DNR by
Attorney Glenn M. Stoddard of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on behalf of the
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council (WRPC), Al Gedicks and Laura
Furtman.
According to Stoddard: “The notice letter and potential lawsuit is
based on the monitoring data that has been collected by FMC and
provided to the DNR and WRPC. The data shows that runoff from the
Flambeau Mine is in violation of applicable surface water quality
standards and is illegally polluting a nearby stream and the Flambeau
River. The data also shows that groundwater at the mine site is
polluted and, at a minimum, requires expanded monitoring. However, the
DNR has failed to properly regulate FMC and has, instead, allowed the
company to violate the law and portray the Flambeau Mine as an
environmental success story when it is not.”
The WRPC is a conservation organization that was founded in 1982 to
address concerns over mining in northern Wisconsin. Al Gedicks, of
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, is WRPC’s Executive Secretary and he is also one
of the two individuals bringing the case.
“It appears that FMC has been glossing over its own data in order to
claim that the Flambeau Mine is an environmental success story, when
the data actually shows that the Mine is causing pollution just as we
had predicted before it was permitted by the DNR back in 1991. We are
pursuing this case now in order to bring out the truth and hold both
FMC and the DNR legally accountable for the damage being done to our
environment by the Flambeau Mine.”
Laura Furtman, of Webster, Wisconsin, is the other individual bringing
the case. Furtman said: “I am concerned about the DNR’s lax approach to
enforcement and FMC’s poor science and claims of environmental success,
because this sends the wrong message to people in northern Wisconsin
and other areas that are faced with new mining proposals. The facts
show that the Flambeau Mine is anything but a success and is, instead,
a serious environmental problem that neither the DNR nor FMC want to
acknowledge publicly.”
The Flambeau Mine, located in Rusk County, Wisconsin, was an open
pit metallic sulfide mine that produced 181,000 tons of copper, 334,000
ounces of gold and 3.3 million ounces of silver over its four•year life
span (1993•1997). The Flambeau River formed the western boundary of the
project area, and the pit itself was constructed to within 150 feet of
the river. In late 1997, the 32•acre pit was backfilled with waste rock
containing heavy metals, sulfides and sludge.
According to Dr. David Chambers, an expert in geophysics who reviewed
FMC’s water quality data for WRPC, there are problems with both surface
water and groundwater pollution at the Flambeau Mine site. In
particular, a major area of concern involves a small tributary of the
Flambeau River known as “Stream C.”
When FMC closed the mine, a drainage ditch and pond were constructed to
collect polluted runoff coming from the mine site, and a second ditch
was constructed to convey that water to Stream C. According to
Chambers, who is the President of the Center for Science in Public
Participation out of Bozeman, Montana, “Copper levels in Stream C
exceed Wisconsin water quality standards both at the discharge point
from the pond into Stream C and from Stream C as it flows into the
Flambeau River.” He added, “The latest round of data I’ve seen shows
copper levels about seven times higher than the Wisconsin standard at
the pond’s outlet.”
A second issue relates to groundwater pollution at the Flambeau Mine
site. Dr. Kendra Zamzow, an environmental chemist who works with
Chambers, analyzed contaminant levels in a well drilled in the path of
water flowing from the backfilled pit to the Flambeau River. She said:
“There have been consistent and statistically significant violations of
1991 Flambeau Mine permit standards in this well, which is about 125
feet from the river. The heavy metal manganese, for example, is
currently registering over four times higher than the permit standard”
WRPC has also taken issue with FMC’s monitoring program for tracking
the biological effects of metals making their way into the Flambeau
River from the mine site. The group enlisted the help of Dr. Ken
Parejko, an aquatic biologist and Professor Emeritus at the University
of Wisconsin•Stout, to evaluate FMC’s biological studies.
Parejko concluded that there were serious flaws in the company’s study
design, making it “difficult to draw any conclusions regarding the
presence or absence of a mining•related effect” on the Flambeau River.
Yet, he added, “The combined observation of statistically significant
increased copper concentrations in crayfish, walleye and sediment
downstream from the mine site raises the possibility of a causal
relationship.”
The conservationists are seeking a number of remedies for the pollution
at the mine from the DNR and FMC, including but not limited to more
restrictive permitting requirements, fines, remedial action, and
increased monitoring at the site and in the Flambeau River.
More information and complete copies of the formal Notice Letter and
supporting expert reports are available on WRPC’s website at: www.wrpc.net
Al Gedicks: (608) 784•4399
Laura Furtman: (715) 635•7928
Glenn Stoddard: (715) 852•0345
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