Reporter Lee Bergquist and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel deserve credit and praise for taking a close look at the "reclaimed" former metallic strip mine in Wisconsin (the Flambeau mine near Ladysmith).
Over the last two years, 41% of the water samples taken at or near the mine site have shown levels of toxic metals higher than state law allows, according to the article. The mining company has been trying to remove the sources of the pollution since 2003.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the Flambeau mine was sued earlier in the year under the federal Clean Water Act. The attorney, James N.Saul, representing the environmental groups who filed the suit is quoted in the Journal Sentinel as saying, "I don't think that we can say conclusively that mining can be done safely."
Certainly we cannot say that strip mining is ecologically safe.The reclamation of strip mines is an environmental whitewash, as are so many of the regulations and their enforcement related to mining and fossil fuel development.
Keep in mind that the Flambeau Mine site covers a far smaller area than the initial four-mile-long, half-mile-wide zone of destruction proposed for the iron ore mine in the Penokee Range. And that's only the beginning of what could be a massive scarring of northern Wisconsin if our Republicans and the mining industry have their way.
Here's hoping that the Journal Sentinel will continue to educate its readers on the pitfalls of "open-pit" mining.