County Board: No to PEIS

County Commissioner Keith Nelson called for a break in the session for decorum and some police presence.

“I asked for law enforcement so that everyone would be treated with respect. I was concerned about the atmosphere in the room. All of them (copper/nickel/precious metals opponents) were allowed their five minutes to speak to the board. But as soon as we started to speak they became disrespectful,” said Nelson, who had pushed for a County Board roll call vote on the resolution.

Nelson took on the “environmental industry” that he said “is a big-money industry who buy their influence with high-powered attorneys.”

That triggered an angry response from someone in the audience who said he was “lying,” Nelson said. “I told them I represent about 30,000 people and I am their elected voice ... it’s not a high-paid lawyer representing my people.”

Commissioner Frank Jewell of Duluth, who eventually abstained rather than voting either way, said that the County Board should not be weighing in on the issue.

“He talked against the resolution but then couldn’t bring himself to say the word ‘no,’ Nelson said.

Some special interest groups, including Friends of the Boundary Waters, which is opposed to any copper/nickel/precious metals mining, want the PEIS. They requested the U.S. Forest Service to do one.

A recommendation on the proposal is expected soon by the regional USFS office, which would then be passed up to Washington.

Resolutions against the PEIS have been approved by some Iron Range councils, including Aurora and Virginia.

And the entire Iron Range legislative delegation, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, 8th District U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan and Democratic U.S. Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar have all responded in a Mesabi Daily News story a few weeks ago that the PEIS is unnecessary and only proposed as a delay tactic by anti-copper/nickel supporters.

“I respect the way area city councils have taken on this issue. But I thought it was also important for the County Board to send a strong message. The study has been done. The science is in. It’s time to move on,” Nelson said.

Nonferrous mining opponents are trying to block the PolyMet copper/nickel/precious metals project near Hoyt Lakes, which is currently far along in the environmental review phase, and the Twin Metals Minnesota venture near Ely and Babbitt.

Those two projects and others that could follow hold the potential for thousands of direct mining jobs and thousands more of spin-off positions, along with millions of hours of construction work in a region of Minnesota that has a considerably higher jobless rate that the statewide average.

Nelson said he gives Commissioner Patrick Boyle of Duluth credit for voting yes on the resolution. “He realized that 30 percent of all jobs in Duluth are dependent on the mining industry. That wasn’t the case for another Duluth commissioner,” he said, referring to Jewell.

Nancy Norr, who is chair of the Jobs for Minnesotans group that strongly advocates for copper/nickel mining on the Range, said she was pleased with the vote.

“Overall it was a civil and fairly well respectful meeting. It got more heated when the commissioners started speaking and that’s unfortunate,” Norr siad.

She also praised County Attorney Mark Rubin who countered PEIS supporters’ claim that the law requires such a review. “He said, ‘No, it’s not law that has to be done.’ I commend him and staff for doing their jobs really well,” Norr said.

The Jobs for Minnesotans official said U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan also did everyone a huge favor with his history lesson in a Mesabi Daily News story, when he pointed out the issue of mining in certain parts of the Superior National Forest was resolved in the 1978 BWCAW Act.

“Another review is just redundant and not needed,” Norr said Nolan put into perspective in that MDN story.