Healy: Tribes Should Withdraw Request to the EPA to Stop the Northern Wisconsin Mine

July 11, 2014

For Immediate Release
Contact: Nick Novak, 608-237-7290
nnovak@maciverinstitute.com

[Madison, Wisc…] Five of six Native American Tribes that signed a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency in May calling for them to stop a mine in northern Wisconsin cited the Clean Water Act as their reasoning, but are in fact in violation of the Act themselves.

The MacIver Institute published this report on Thursday, and it is available by clicking here.

Brett Healy, President of the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, released the following statement asking the Tribes to rescind their request and allow the mining company to continue with research on the mine’s environmental impact without interruption:

“I respectfully call on the Tribes to withdraw their request to the EPA, and let the mining company complete the permitting process. If approved, the mining company would still have to follow all state and federal regulations on mining, including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

“Wisconsin has a permitting process for a reason. A company that is willing to invest $1.5 billion in our state and bring generation-changing jobs to this hard-hit region should be given the opportunity to work through that process. For the Tribes to attempt to stop that process even before it really begins is disappointing. This project is too critical to the future of our state for political games like this.”