Star Tribune
PolyMet mine faces new obstacle after judge recommends rejecting its permit
An administrative court has recommended denying a key permit for PolyMet Mining’s open-pit copper-nickel project, asserting that its design would risk contaminating too much water.
Administrative Law Judge James E. LaFave wrote in a ruling released on Tuesday that the company’s plan to apply bentonite clay to an old taconite tailings basin, and then put waste rock from its hardrock mine on top, would not satisfy the state’s rules because it was not a “practical and workable” solution.
As a result, PolyMet’s permit to mine should be denied by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, LaFave wrote.
“That’s an amazing result, and a huge victory,” said Paula Maccabee, an attorney with the nonprofit group WaterLegacy, one of several organizations that challenged the tailings basin design.
The ruling is not a final decision — it will be sent to back to DNR, which can accept or reject it. LaFave also wrote that if DNR decides differently and proceeds with the permit, the agency should attach special conditions to manage water seeping through mine tailings.
“We’re reviewing the [administrative law judge’s] recommendation and evaluating our options at this time,” Bruce Richardson, a spokesman for PolyMet and NewRange Copper Nickel, wrote in an email.
PolyMet wants to build a massive, open-pit hardrock mine near Babbitt, Minn., and use the former LTV Steel site in Hoyt Lakes to process the material. Hardrock mining has been controversial in Minnesota because of an increased risk of acid mine drainage, compared to the iron mining that’s traditionally dominated the state.
Since originally proposing its mine, PolyMet, which is owned by the international conglomerate Glencore, formed the NewRange partnership with a subsidiary of the Canadian firm Teck Resources. Teck was developing its own mining project next door.
PolyMet’s proposal has been stalled by other permitting issues — most recently, the Minnesota Supreme Court revoked a key water pollution permit in August.
In a statement, DNR Deputy Commissioner Barb Naramore wrote that an unnamed senior leader at the agency will review the recommendations and solicit comments from the parties in the case before making the final decision on the permit.
“They and their legal counsel also have not had, and will not have, any contact with the DNR permitting team regarding the specifics of the case,” Naramore wrote.
The ruling comes after a five-day hearing this spring, in which a coalition of environmental groups, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the DNR and representatives for PolyMet all presented their sides in the case.
The issues covered were narrow: could the use of bentonite clay on the former LTV Steel tailings basin stop water from filtering through waste rock? If not, acid mine drainage could escape into the Lake Superior watershed.
Bentonite clay is used in many applications, including at other mine sites in Minnesota. It’s also an ingredient in some cosmetics. In this case, the clay was supposed to reduce water and oxygen infiltration on the sides and bottom of an already water-filled tailings pond.
Despite recommending denial, LaFave’s ruling asserted that bentonite could be used effectively to coat the sides and bottom of the pond, and that it would reduce water and oxygen infiltration.
“I don’t quite know what to make of that [part of the ruling]” said Chris Knopf, executive director of the group Friends of the Boundary Waters.
But Knopf pointed to another section which detailed an undisputed fact: that 298 million gallons of water would still seep from the tailings each year.
DNR and PolyMet argued this was just a tiny proportion of all the water in the watershed, and a fraction of a percent of the water contained by the tailings pond. LaFave decided, however, that the design did not stop “substantially all water” from contacting the tailings and flowing away, as required by state rules.
“If a hauler wanted to transport 298 million gallons of water by truck…it would take 27,091 trucks to carry the water. If those trucks were lined up bumper-to-bumper, the convoy would stretch 271 miles – approximately the distance between St. Paul and Grand Marais,” he wrote.
In a statement, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Chairman Kevin R. Dupuis Sr. wrote that the decision served to safeguard the natural resources that Native people rely on, and that treaty rights protect. Fond du Lac’s reservation is downstream of PolyMet’s planned mine.
“Today’s decision by the ALJ would protect these resources for the Band and all Minnesotans,” Dupuis wrote. “DNR must accept the ALJ’s decision.”
Two people from Minnetonka were killed late Friday afternoon when their GMC Suburban ran a stop sign and was struck by a GMC Yukon headed north on Hwy. 169 west of Palisade, Minn.
According to the State Patrol, Marlo Dean Baldwin, 92, and Elizabeth Jane Baldwin, 61, were dead at the scene. The driver of the Suburban, a 61-year-old Minnetonka man, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Suburban, pulling a trailer, was headed east on Grove Street/County Rd. 3 at about 5:15 p.m. when it failed to stop at Hwy. 169 and was struck by the northbound Yukon. The Yukon then struck two westbound vehicles stopped at the intersection.
Four people from Zimmerman, Minn., in the Yukon, including the driver, were taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, while two passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three girls in the Yukon ranged in age from 11 to 15.
The drivers of the two vehicles struck by the Yukon were not injured, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were dry at the time of the accident, and alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. All involved in the accident were wearing a seat belt except for Elizabeth Baldwin.
Hill City police and the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.
The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.
Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.
They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.
A football game at Minnetonka High School is an elaborate production. The Skippers’ recent homecoming victory over Shakopee brought an announced crowd of 8,145. And that is just paying attendees; it doesn’t include school staffers, coaches, dance team, marching band, concession workers, media members and others going about their business attached to the game.
The Sparklers program, now in its 12th season, was the brainchild of Marcy Adams, a former Minnetonka cheerleader who initiated the program in her senior year of high school. Adams has been coach of the team since its inception, staying on through her tenure as a cheerleader at the University of Minnesota.
She started the program after experiencing the Unified Sports program at Minnetonka. The unified sports movement at high schools brings together student-athletes with cognitive or physical disabilities and athletes with no disabilities to foster relationships, understanding and compassion through athletics. Many Minnesota schools offer unified sports.
“I grew up in a household that valued students with special needs and valued inclusion,” Adams said. “I saw a need to give to those students. At Minnetonka, we have a strong Unified program, and this was a great opportunity to build relationships and offer mentorship opportunities.”
Elite runners are in a league of their own.
To get a sense of how far ahead elite runners are compared to the rest of us, the Minnesota Star Tribune took a look at how their times compare to the average marathon participant.
The 2022 Twin Cities Marathon men’s winner was Japanese competitor Yuya Yoshida, who ran the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds, for an average speed of 11.96 mph. He averaged 5 minutes and 2 seconds per mile.
That’s more than twice the speed of the average competitor across both the men’s and women’s categories, of 5.89 mph, according to race results site Mtec. The average participant finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. That comes out to an average time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds per mile.
And taking it to the most extreme, the fastest-ever marathon runner, Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya, finished the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds, for an average pace of about 13 mph. Kiptum averaged 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.
Here is a graphic showing these differences in average marathon speed.
