Regulators suspend PolyMet’s wetlands permit for mine
FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2016, file photo is a former iron ore processing plant near Hoyt Lakes, Minn., that would become part of a proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine. Lawyers for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine and state regulators urged the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, to defer to the judgement of the state Department of Natural Resources and reinstate three critical permits for the project.[AP Photo/Jim Mone, File]
A federal regulator has suspended the PolyMet Mining Corp.’s permit to dredge more than 900 acres of wetland for Minnesota’s first copper mine.
The ruling is a victory for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa which attempted to protect Indigenous water quality standards as a “downstream state” under the Clean Water Act.
The suspension means five major permits for the $1 billion PolyMet project are now stayed or under review.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stayed the wetlands permit it issued to PolyMet so the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could review whether the mining project will negatively affect the Fond du Lac Band reservation water quality.