Back Forty Deposit - Opposition to any mining IS NOT NEWhttps://michigan.sierraclub.org/issues/greatlakes/sulfidemining.html#second Michigan Sierra Club Members: Thank you for weighing in on Kennecott's "Woodland Road"!
Federal Agencies advise MDNRE to say "NO" to Kennecott's "Woodland Road"
Kennecott surprises EPA with news they don't need EPA's Underground Injection Control permit.
Likely second applicant: Aquila Resources, Menominee County
Six years ago, an outcrop of zinc, gold, silver and copper was found in Menominee County west of Stephenson not far from the Menominee River. The Menominee River makes up part of our shared border with Wisconsin. Aquila Resources has been prospecting ever since, working to delineate the ore body by drilling deep cores in the rock and analyzing their content and concentration. Because the ore body is located in sulfide deposits, Aquila will need to apply for a Part 632 Non-Ferrous Metallic Mineral Mining Permit from the MDEQ. They'll need a number of other permits as well, but are still at least several months away from applying as they finalize the required environmental studies and reports. See Aquila Resources for their description of what they refer to as the Back Forty Project.
In 2005, in response to the Menominee County mine exploration, the Sierra Club recruited local residents and volunteers to begin the Shakey Water Sentinels Project, a water quality monitoring project. Under a water quality monitoring grant from the Michigan Clean Water Corps, we recruited local Sierra Club members, members of the Front Forty, and faculty from the University of Wisconsin-Marinette. If the mine is developed, impacts are likely to include not only shifts in pH from the sulfide rocks exposure to air and water, but also stream degradation from the huge increase in local truck traffic. Even development of more housing will cause changes to the Shakey River Watershed, where the ore body is located. The Shakey River flows to the Menominee River near the Sixty Islands, that are situated between Michigan and Wisconsin.
The Sierra Club and project volunteers have examined the land and watershed up close during monitoring activities, and it's not clear how a mine can possibly be built that will not harm water resources, since area streams are all fed by groundwater seeps that form streams, like those that flow to the Shakey River, that flow to the Menominee River. In fact, the proposed mine site is less than a half-mile from the Menominee River. We will monitor this potential mine site closely, as permit applications are forthcoming in the next several months. To read more about the Shakey Water Sentinels, see our water monitoring webpage.