The state begins to own up

Mere hours before Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was sworn into office, and just days after he announced a new commissioner for the Department of Natural Resources, the failed Essar Steel Minnesota project in Nashwauk challenged the new administration with the unsurprising news that Essar Global was back in the game.

After all, what did Essar have to lose? The company was out of international debt, cleared money owed by Mesabi Metallics and since July 2018 had lurked in the shadows as primary players in regaining state mineral leases critical to the project’s future.