Take Action to Support the Fond du Lac Band and Protect the St. Louis River and Lake Superior Watersheds from PolyMet Pollution!

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Take Action to Support the Fond du Lac Band and Protect the St. Louis River and Lake Superior Watersheds from PolyMet Pollution!

Stand with the Fond du Lac Band. Help protect the St. Louis River and Lake Superior from PolyMet mine increases in downstream toxic mercury contamination of fish and pollution that kills aquatic life.

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has exercised its rights under the Clean Water Act Section 401(a)(2) to object to the U.S. Army Corps PolyMet federal wetlands destruction permit on the grounds that the PolyMet mine would contaminate its reservation waters on the St. Louis River with toxic mercury. No federal agency has previously recognized a Tribe’s right to object to federal permits as a downstream state, and no Tribe has ever exercised these rights. It is vital that all communities support the Band’s rights and our State’s clean water.

IMPORTANT NEWS: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) evaluation has supported the Band’s science. The EPA concluded that the PolyMet federal permit would not protect reservation waters from mercury mobilization, mercury methylation, and specific conductance loading exceeding the Band’s water quality standards and degrading the quality of reservation waters. As a result, “EPA recommends that the Corps not reinstate the suspended CWA Section 404 permit for the NorthMet project, as currently proposed.” Read the EPA evaluation here.

June 6: Deadline for written comments.

SAMPLE WRITTEN COMMENT BELOW OR SEND YOUR OWN PERSONAL COMMENT – ACT TODAY!

TALKING POINTS (for individual written comments)

If it were built, the PolyMet/Glencore mine would increase pollution of the Fond du Lac Band’s reservation waters in - violation of the Band’s federally-approved water quality standards - due to: 1) untreated seepage from mine pits and wastes; 2) wastewater discharges without effluent limits; and 3) wetlands destruction, drying, and rewetting in violation of the Band’s federally-approved water quality standards.
The PolyMet/Glencore mine approved by the Army Corps wetlands destruction permit would increase mercury in water and toxic methylmercury in fish in the headwaters of the St. Louis River.
Methylmercury is a bioaccumulative toxin that concentrates in the food chain. It is not diluted. PolyMet mine pollution and wetlands destruction would, thus, increase mercury contamination far downstream in the St. Louis River, including Fond du Lac Reservation waters.
Fond du Lac Band members rely on fishing for subsistence and culture. Increased mercury contamination of fish would harm the health of fetuses, infants, and children, remove a healthy protein source, and undermine Band members’ ability to practice their culture on their homeland.
The Fond du Lac Band has a stringent mercury (0.77 nanograms/liter) standard to protect the health, nutrition, and culture of its members. PolyMet permits fail to ensure compliance with this standard. The Band and scientific experts have determined that the PolyMet federal permit will negatively affect its reservation waters and violate this water quality standards.
The Fond du Lac Band also has federally-approved water quality standards (300 µS/cm) limiting specific conductance ionic pollution that kills aquatic life and preventing degradation of water quality.
PolyMet pollution would increase the level of conductivity in the St. Louis River and on the Fond du Lac Reservation, degrading water quality.
Yet, neither the PolyMet final environmental impact statement nor any state or federal permit analyzes or limits specific conductance pollution. In fact, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recently repealed its water quality standard for specific conductance.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) evaluation agreed that the PolyMet permit would violate Fond du Lac Reservation water quality standards and the EPA recommended that the PolyMet Section 404 wetlands permit should not be reinstated.
Therefore, the Army Corps must revoke and not reissue the PolyMet permit to prevent violation of the water quality standards of the Fond du Lac Band as a “downstream state” and to comply with the Clean Water Act.

WaterLegacy’s website provides more information on the PolyMet federal wetlands destruction permit here. All of the new documents submitted by the Band, the EPA and PolyMet at the Army Corps hearing can be found here.

Please submit your comments to the Army Corps today using the sample comment letter below or editing this example to better express your views.

You can also send a separate or additional comment to USACE-PolyMet-401a2@usace.army.mil until June 6.

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SUBMIT

Revoke the PolyMet NorthMet copper-nickel sulfide ore mine Section 404 wetlands permit

Subject: Fond du Lac Band Section 401(a)(2) Objection to PolyMet Federal Permit

Message:

I strongly believe that the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) must revoke and must not reissue the PolyMet NorthMet copper-nickel sulfide ore mine Section 404 wetlands permit due to harmful water quality impacts on the downstream Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation (Reservation), which is located on the St. Louis River. Failure to revoke the PolyMet permit would contaminate the St. Louis River, impair the health of Fond du Lac Band members, and place a disproportionate and unjust burden on the Band. • The PolyMet project will increase mercury in the water and methylmercury in fish due to sulfate and mercury releases and wetlands destruction, drying, and wetting in the St. Louis River headwaters. Methylmercury does not get diluted; it accumulates in the food chain and will pollute waters and contaminate fish on the Band’s downstream Reservation. • Reservation standards for mercury are more stringent than Minnesota state standards because Band members rely on fish for subsistence and as part of their culture. Nothing in the PolyMet application or in federal or state permits took the Band’s standards into account. PolyMet impacts on mercury and on methylmercury in fish will harm Band members and cause damage to the developing brains of fetuses, infants, and children. • The PolyMet project will also increase salts and ionic pollution (specific conductance) degrading Reservation waters. The Fond du Lac Band has a federally-approved numeric Reservation water quality standard for specific conductance to protect fish and other aquatic life and a stringent anti-degradation standard. • The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has no standard to protect aquatic life from ionic pollution and recently repealed the only state water quality standard for specific conductance. There is nothing in any PolyMet permit regulating downstream specific conductance pollution to prevent degradation of Fond du Lac Reservation waters. I am grateful for the Fond du Lac Band’s stewardship of the St. Louis River and Lake Superior watersheds, and I stand in solidarity with the Band’s sovereign objection to the PolyMet Section 404 wetlands permit. The Army Corps must revoke and must not reissue the PolyMet mine project federal permit.

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