CONTACT: Kennan Wood, Executive Director
Wisconsin Mining Association
kwood@wimining.com
(608) 444-9546
Wisconsin Mining Association says job creation and environmental protection should be complementary, not competing goals
MILWAUKEE – Business and labor leaders around Wisconsin have joined together, reconstituting the Wisconsin Mining Association (WMA), for the purpose of fostering the exploration, development and implementation of modern mining in Wisconsin. A priority of the statewide organization in the fall of 2011 will be advocating for competitive ferrous (iron) mining legislation. Chaired by former Bucyrus President and CEO Tim Sullivan, the Wisconsin Mining Association urges Governor Walker and legislators of both parties to address the state’s need for a permitting and regulatory structure more appropriate to ferrous/iron mining than the state’s current statutes which were enacted primarily to regulate sulfide mining.
“The facts of the situation are pretty straightforward,” said Sullivan. “One, Wisconsin is home to an iron ore deposit that has the potential to create an amazingly more positive economic future for generations of families in Northern Wisconsin, not to mention for thousands of workers all over the state. Two, there is no way to determine whether or not the deposit can be profitably mined in an environmentally responsible manner without persuading an organization to invest the millions of dollars required to pay for what will undoubtedly be a multi-year permitting process. Three, we cannot attract the investment needed to fund the permitting inquiries, develop the deposit and realize that huge potential without statutorily recognizing, as Minnesota and Michigan have, that iron mining is different from sulfide mining and providing some predictability to the process.”
Sullivan announced today that the WMA is encouraging legislators to enact specific ferrous mining legislation yet this year and indicated that the WMA is persuaded that in order to enable Wisconsin to capitalize on its opportunities, policy-makers should focus their attention on legislation that:
1. recognizes the significant differences between iron ore mining and sulfide mining;
2. acknowledges the new scientific and regulatory opportunities available as a result of modern scientific and technologically driven environmental stewardship;
3. provides a company with a clear roadmap for the type of information necessary to submit a complete Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and a reasonable time frame during which the permitting process would take place;
4. makes Wisconsin’s permit process for ferrous mining competitive with states which currently have ferrous mining legislation;
5. ensures the local impact of a mining operation would be adequately addressed, but again keeps Wisconsin competitive with states which currently have ferrous mining legislation; and
6. protects and encourages citizen input within a timely, predictable process.
David Bretting, president and CEO of Bretting Manufacturing in Ashland and a member of the WMA board, agreed with Sullivan and emphasized the need for a nonpartisan effort, saying, “All of us in the Wisconsin Mining Association are committed to the idea that the people of Wisconsin want their leaders to find ways to save and create jobs and protect the environment at the same time. This is a classic opportunity to prove to them that we can do that and I think all of us – business leaders, labor leaders, elected officials, environmental advocates – have an obligation to try to move this effort forward.”
The Gogebic Range in northwest Wisconsin is home to one of the largest taconite iron ore deposits in the world. Sensible and conscientious development of the estimated $200 billion ore deposit in the Gogebic Range will create an economic boost to a portion of Wisconsin especially hard hit by economic challenges. An earlier Economic Impact Study released by NorthStar Economics predicted the creation of approximately 2,800 mining-related and ancillary jobs in the 12-county Gogebic region. In addition, iron ore produced in northwestern Wisconsin will help meet the growing need for American steel by manufacturers around the country. This, in turn, will create additional Wisconsin job growth.
“A host of Wisconsin companies are already connected to the mining industry, playing a critical role in Wisconsin’s current economic viability. It is estimated that almost 15,000 jobs in our state are directly or indirectly related to the mining industry,” said Bill Breihan, WMA board member and sub-district director of the United Steelworkers in West Allis. “In order to protect and grow Wisconsin jobs, we need to create legislation that allows for environmentally responsible iron mining.”
The Wisconsin Mining Association is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) foundation whose goals include enhancing public awareness of, and appreciation for, the important role mining has played in Wisconsin’s past; the critical role it plays in Wisconsin’s current economic stability; and the massive potential it holds for creating good jobs and re-energizing the state’s economy in years to come.
