More Mining in Minnesota

Posted by Alexandra Matiella Novak Jun 6, 2009

It's job growth and industry versus pollution and fear of hazards. The mining industry and its experts are pushing for the expansion of mining in Minnesota. Many are calling the expansion an appropriate response to today's economic environment, especially since Minnesota is a state with high unemployment rates.

But our life-sustaining environments are also in trouble. The three major environmental systems - the atmosphere, the lithosphere and the hydrosphere - that work independently and together as systems to create a human-friendly environment are all suffering from pollution created by human activity.

Minnesota Public Radio's recent coverage on this new mining issue has highlighted what some of the environmental concerns are:

• Copper and nickel are found in sulfurs rocks. When sulfur comes into contact with air and water, a chemical reaction occurs and acids form.
• These acids can mix with groundwater and become part of watershed, lowering the pH balance of groundwater, which mixes with rivers and lakes.
• A dam near the mine is fed by this watershed. There is an accumulation of sediment behind the dam that contains a form of mercury not harmful to humans and animals
• When the sulfuric acid mixes with this sediment, a chemical reaction occurs and the mercury present in the sediments converts to a form that is hazardous.

Creating even more concern, is the fact that this watershed is part of the Lake Superior watershed system. Allowing mercury-tainted sediment and water to enter this inland hydrosphere could be disastrous for the animals and humans who depend on this lake for their survival.

The MPR piece provides a lot more information on how the Lake Superior watershed could be threatened by increased mining and how the mining industry is responding to these concerns.

Related Link:

What is a Watershed? - Environmental Protection Agency