john coleman (colemanj@calshp.cals.wisc.edu) - for the Midwest Treaty Network
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Exxon Returns to Wisconsin: The Threat of the Crandon / Mole Lake Mine
By Al Gedicks and Zoltan Grossman
In 1975, Texas-based Exxon Minerals Co. discovered one of the world!s
largest zinc-copper sulphide deposits (with traces of lead, silver and
gold), adjacent to the Mole Lake Indian Reservation near Crandon,
Wisconsin. Situated at the headwaters of the Wolf River in Forest County,
the underground shaft mine would produce ore for about 20-25 years. After
a decade of facing strong local opposition, Exxon withdrew from the project
in 1986, but returned in February 1994 to announce its intention to mine
with a new partner-Canada-based Rio Algom- in their new "Crandon Mining Co."
The mine would disrupt far beyond its surface area of 866 acres (about
one-tenth of which is wetlands). Over its lifetime, the mine would
generate an estimated 60 million tons of acidic wastes-the weight of 12
Great Pyramids of Egypt. When metallic sulphide wastes have contact with
water or air, the result is sulphuric acids, and high levels of poisonous
heavy metals like mercury, lead, zinc, arsenic, lead, copper, and cadmium.
(Though it is technically feasible to extract uranium from the ore, Exxon
refuses to indicate such an interest.)
Effects on Native Peoples
The planned mine lies on territory ceded by the Chippewa Nation to the U.S.
in 1842, and directly on a 12-square-mile tract of land promised to the
Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa in 1855. Treaties guaranteed Chippewa access
to wild rice, fish and some wild game on ceded lands. The Mole Lake
Reservation (formed in 1934) is among the prime harvesters of wild rice in
Wisconsin. Swamp Creek flows directly from the mine site into the wild
rice beds in Rice Lake, inside the reservation boundaries. Though wild
rice is central to the Sokaogon Chippewa culture, one Exxon biologist
called it "those lake weeds".
In addition, the nearby Menominee, Potawatomi, and Stockbridge-Munsee
nations would be severely affected by the mine pollution and the social
upheaval brought by new outsiders. With Mole Lake, they have formed the
Nii Win Intertribal Council (Nii Win is Ojibwe for 'four'), which in turn
is working in alliance with environmental and fishing groups within a
campaign called W.A.T.E.R. (Watershed Alliance Toward Environmental
Responsibility). The Wisconsin conflict over treaty spearfishing pitted
Chippewas against some white fishermen over natural resources from 1985
until the anti-Indian protests ended in 1992. Now, the mining conflict
finds Native Americans and some non-Indian fishing groups on the same side,
opposing an outside threat to the same resources. Nii Win's resolve
against "environmental racism" may help preserve nearby waterways for
Indians and non-Indians alike.
DNR Secretary George Meyer admits that Native Americans "have a case" in
using treaties to prevent damage to natural resources. The Mole Lake
tribal council showed by ripping up a $20,000 Exxon check (which would have
bought reservation mineral rights) that their land is more precious than
greed. Tribal Judge Fred Ackley says, "If they go ahead with their mine,
our tribe is going to be devastated." Tribal member Myra Tuckwab says,
"We like where we're living...Now that we're here, they discover something
and they either want to take it from us or move us away from it....This is
where I belong. This is my home. This is where my roots are and this is
where I'm gonna stay."
Effects on the Environment
Half of the projected mine waste is rocky "coarse tailings", which would
be dumped to fill up the mine shafts. The other half of the waste is
powdery "fine tailings", which would be dumped into a waste pond, about 90
feet deep and covering 365 acres. To control leakage, Exxon plans to line
the pond with only eight inches of a bentonite clay mix. The Environmental
Protection Agency admits that tailings ponds are "regulated... loosely",
and that leaks from even the best dumps "will inevitably occur". Exxon's
own geologist admitted that "contamination is bound to occur no matter how
wisely a mine is designed...". The DNR says that in nearby creeks sulphate
levels would rise fivefold and lead and arsenic levels threefold. Though
such wastes are poisonous for centuries, Exxon would have responsibility
for only 10-30 years after the mine closes, even if the tailings pond
floods or collapses. Lands around former metallic sulphide mines are
notoriously difficult to reclaim.
In addition, the half-mile-deep mine shafts would themselves drain
groundwater supplies, in much the same way that a hypodermic needle draws
blood from a patient. The wastewater would be constantly pumped out of
the shafts, "drawing down" water levels in a four-square-mile area.
"Dewatering" could lower lakes by several feet, and dry up wells and
springs. The contaminated wastewater would have to be treated before
being dumped into streams, but no treatment system has been proven
foolproof. The contamination and draw-down of water directly threatens
the survival of both fish and wild rice.
The wastewater would be dumped at an average rate of over 2000 gallons a
minute into trout-rich streams that drain into the nearby Wolf River. The
Wolf is a state Outstanding Resource Water (ORW)-allowing no degrading of
its pristine quality-and its lower half is protected as a National Wild and
Scenic River. Exxon strongly opposed the ORW status of the Wolf, which is
the state's largest whitewater trout stream, supporting brown, brook, and
rainbow trout. The Menominee Nation strongly opposes the mine, partly
because the Wolf River flows through its reservation. Trout Unlimited's
Wolf River chapter says that "the mine as proposed would be a serious
threat to the Wolf River as a trout stream....".
The U.S. Bureau of Mines says that mine wastes have poisoned 10,000 miles
of rivers. There are many instances of fish kills, such as the dramatic
trout kill on Montana's Clark Fork River. The tourist industry along the
Wolf River would be severely damaged even by the public perception of harm
to the resources. Small wonder that an Exxon engineer has said, "You
couldn't find a more difficult place to mine..."
Effects on the Economy
The economic benefits of mining have been compared to drugs-giving a false
high, followed by a terrible crash. This "boom-and-bust" cycle has ruined
local economies from the U.P. to Appalachia. Mining companies promise
jobs, but give most of them to highly skilled outside workers. This large
influx of miners brings local service costs (such as new sewers and
schools), inflation in land and housing prices (especially affecting older
residents), and huge social costs if the mine closes or the company decides
to withdraw. USA Today reports that six out of the top ten counties with
the largest population loss have gone through mining busts.
Wisconsin taxpayers who live nowhere near the mine would have to foot the
bill too. The company does not have to pay for any clean-up costs (which
can total in the millions of dollars) once its care responsibility is over.
We are already paying for new powerlines, highway widenings, and other
projects associated with the mine. A dollar amount cannot be put on the
loss if Wisconsin's tourism industry is affected by harm to its natural
resources. Mining supporters say that a mine brings in new tax revenues.
Yet Wisconsin's mining tax (and environmental law) was written full of
loopholes, in an effort led by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) and
state Administration Secretary James Klauser, himself a former Exxon
lobbyist. If the Mole Lake mine doesn't make a profit, there would be
no taxes to pay. Unlike its Exxon parent firm, Exxon Minerals operated at
a loss every year (at least in 1971-84). A glut now on the market is
driving down the price of zinc (which is about the same as it was in 1986,
when the company claimed its pull-out was due to low metal prices).
Increased metallic recycling is an economic alternative to more mining, but
Exxon isn't talking about it.
Company track records
Exxon (once John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Co.) is the world's biggest
oil giant, with a budget that dwarfs that of most countries. But it is
also one of the world's biggest producers of coal, uranium, copper, and
other minerals. Exxon Minerals has invested heavily in copper mining in
Chile (only five years after a military junta took power), and uranium
mining in many countries. Its El Cerrej!n coal mine in a Colombian Indian
region put it on the Survival International list of the Top Ten corporate
violators of Native rights. (It also was accused of weakening the
country's mining tax and exaggerating job prospects for local people. In
1986-90, 32 mine workers died on the job. Crandon Mining Co. President
Jerry Goodrich was vice president of operations at El Cerrej!n.) Wyoming
officials found Exxon "unusually uncooperative" in dealing with
environmental health problems, worker safety, and economic impacts around
its Highland uranium mine. Exxon had the worst mine safety record among
the 20 top U.S. underground mining firms in 1989.
The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill severely damaged the fishing industry
around Alaska's Prince William Sound, and killed ducks, otters, mussels,
and more. Commercial fishermen today say the salmon haven't returned in
adequate numbers. Exxon refuses to meet with the fishermen or impacted
Native villages, claiming that the spill has been cleaned up. A federal
NOAA official has challenged Exxon data, and has said the clean-up may take
another decade. The Public Information Director at Crandon, J. Wiley
Bragg, was Exxon's PR man during the Alaska spill.
The EPA fined Exxon in 1992 for not reporting chemical releases at a New
Jersey oil refinery, which has since been sold. (Exxon also refuses to
disclose toxic chemical releases at its foreign operations.) Exxon often
underestimates the technological risks of large projects. In 1981, it
abandoned a Nova Scotia mine after two years because of water infiltration.
Two years later, it suddenly dropped a huge Colorado oil shale project,
laying off over 2000 workers.
Rio Algom is best known worldwide for its disastrous Elliot Lake uranium
mines in Ontario, which poisoned fish and other aquatic life in the Serpent
River. The Canadian government fined it for spreading high-level
radioactivity in water-ways. A nearby Ojibwa (Chippewa) reservation
curtailed its fishing in the river, due to chronic diseases, fetal deaths,
and abnormal births. Rio Algom used to be owned by Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ),
the British mining giant which has opened a controversial Kennecott copper
mine near Ladysmith. RTZ sold its shares in the company (according to the
Canadian industry voice The Northern Miner) due to "potential liabilities"
relating to cleaning up the Elliot Lake disaster, and it could find no
single buyer for Rio Algom. In Nova Scotia, Rio Algom has also been
called to account for a large increase in child leukemias around its East
Kemptville tin mine and smelter. Like Exxon, it is developing copper in
Chile, and uranium in Wyoming and New Mexico. Can corporations like Exxon
and Rio Algom be trusted to mine in anybody's backyard?
What You Can Do
-Come to Mole Lake (on Hwy. 55 south of Crandon) for the 9th Annual Protect
the Earth Gathering, June 18-19, sponsored by the Midwest Treaty Network,
immediately following the four-day 5th Annual Protecting Mother Earth
Conference of the Indigenous Environmental Network. The theme of both is
"Environmental Genocide: Aho Gaawiin Gago (No Go Away)"
-Write and call: Governor Tommy Thompson, Madison WI 53702 [608-266-1212];
DNR Secretary George Meyer, Box 7921, Madison WI 53707 [608-266-2121];
and the Wisconsin Tourism Bureau, 1-800-432-8747 [toll- free; ask questions
as a potential tourist].
-For more information or to offer help:
Nii Win Intertribal Council
c/o Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa., Rt. 1 Box 625, Crandon WI 54520
c/o Forest Co. Potawatomi, Box 340, Crandon WI 54520
c/o Menominee, Box 397, Keshena WI 54135
c/o Stockbridge-Munsee, Rt. 1, Bowler WI 54416
Midwest Treaty Network, 731 State St., Madison WI 53703;
608-249-2390/ 608-246-2256 (fax)
Indigenous Environmental Network, PO Box 485, Bemidji MN 56601;
in WI: 715-682-6293
Anishinaabe Niijii, Box 2700, Hayward WI 54843
W.A.T.E.R. Campaign, Box 311, Springbrook WI 54875
Real Mining News, RCCAG, Rt. 3, Ladysmith WI 54848
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, 210 Avon St., #9, LaCrosse WI 54603
608-784-4399
Wolf River Watershed Alliance, 1462 Liberty , Green Bay WI 54304
Sources
America's Least Wanted: The Campaign for Cleaner Corporations,
Council on Economic Priorities (New York, 1993)
An Analysis of the Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts of
Mining and Mineral Resource Development on the Sokaogon
Chippewa Community, COACT Research (Madison, 1980)
Big Oil's Move Into Mining, McGraw Hill (Washington DC, 1983)
Canadian Mining Journal, vol. 101 no. 4, April 1980
Comments on Exxon Minerals Co. DEIS , Dep't of Interior, 1986
Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements , WDNR, 1986
The Gulliver File, Minewatch (London, 1992)
Milwaukee Journal (Box 661, 53201), 4/11/78, 9/17/90, 9/21/86
Milwaukee Sentinel (Box 371, 53201), 8/26/92, 9/16/93.
Multinational Monitor, 10/89, 12/90.
The New Resource Wars, Al Gedicks (South End Press,1993)
National Geographic, February 1994
Northern Miner (1450 Don Mills Rd. Don Mills Ont. ), 7/13/92
Plunder, PARTiZANS/CAFCA (London, 1991)
Raw Materials Report (London), vol. 3 no. 3, 1985
Technical Project Plan (Exxon, 1978)
U.S. News & World Report, 10/28/91
USA Today, 4/23/91
Wall Street Journal, ( 1/15/85)
Water Pollution in Serpent R. Basin, Ont. Min. of Environment, 1976
Wisconsin Sportsman, vol. 15, no. 2, March 1986
Wisconsin Sociologist, Spring-Summer 1988
World Book, vol. 15: pg. 810a (1987)
Al Gedicks is a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-La
Crosse. He is executive secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection
Council, director of the Center for Alternative Mining Development Policy,
and author of The New Resource Wars (South End Press, 1993).
Zoltan Grossman is a cartographer in Madison, Wisconsin, he is a
co-founder of the Midwest Treaty Network, and was a coordinator of the
Witness for Nonviolence at Lac du Flambeau. He is a writer on issues of
geopolitics and indigenous peoples.
Macintosh text in Quark XPress 3.1, available in Microsoft Word or ASCII
Text. Call Zoltan at (608) 246-2256. Please send published artcles to
Zoltan Grossman, 1705 Rutledge, Madison WI 53704 USA.