PolyMet Mine In Minnesota Approved By Army Corps Of Engineers

MINNESOTA — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has given the go-ahead for PolyMet Mining, Inc. to begin its NorthMet project in northern Minnesota. The permit was issued Thursday.

The permit authorizes the discharge of dredged and fill material into 901 acres, and indirect impacts to 27 acres, of waters of the United States in association with the construction and development of the NorthMet mine in northern Minnesota.

PolyMet purchased 1,278 credits from the Lake Superior Wetland Bank to offset wetland loss.

Compared with PolyMet Mining’s original proposal, the permitted alternative avoids impacts to 500 acres of wetlands at the mine site and incorporates measures to minimize impacts to important ecological resources, the Corps says.

"This has been a very carefully weighed decision," Col. Sam Calkins, commander of the Saint Paul District, said in a statement.

"This Record of Decision culminates a long, complex and thorough process. Our regulatory staff have worked extensively with the federal and state resources agencies, federally recognized Tribes, environmental organizations and the applicant. We are confident that we have identified an appropriately balanced alternative and proffered a permit that will allow access to an important mineral resource, while maximizing protection to natural resources including wetlands."

The Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness strongly condemned the Corps' decision Friday.

"Today’s announcement that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the wetlands permit for PolyMet marked an end to a frustrating and opaque permitting process," the group said in a statement to Patch.

"Since 2015, the public has learned little about the content of the permit, which allow for the largest permitted destruction of wetlands in Minnesota’s history. The public has not been given the opportunity to comment."

"Though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked closely with PolyMet on many changes, updates and revisions to the permits, the public has largely been kept in the dark. Lawyers for Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness have struggled to receive any information on how the permit was being shaped. Often, the only way they could get any information from the Corps was through the laborious Freedom of Information Act request."

Chris Knopf, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, said that "the opaque process surrounding these permits and the lack of public input is further evidence that the process is stacked in favor of PolyMet. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted business in a way that showed more concern with the input from a foreign mining company than from the people of Minnesota."