2009/06/22 Flambeau Mine Causing Illegal Water Pollution

Conservationists  announce  intent  to  file  lawsuit  over  water  pollution  from  Flambeau  Mine. A  Wisconsin  conservation  group  and  two  individuals  formally  notified  the  Flambeau  Mining  Company  (FMC)  and  the  Wisconsin  Department  of  Natural  Resources  (DNR)  that  they  intend  to  file  a  lawsuit  over  water  pollution  caused  by  the  partially  reclaimed  Flambeau  Mine,  near  Ladysmith,  Wisconsin,  unless  the  pollution  and  related  issues  are  fully  addressed  within  30  days  by  FMC  and  the  DNR. 

The  formal  notification  letter  was  sent  to  FMC  and  the  DNR  by  Attorney  Glenn  M.  Stoddard  of  Eau  Claire,  Wisconsin,  on  behalf  of  the  Wisconsin  Resources  Protection  Council  (WRPC - member group of WNPJ),  Al  Gedicks  and  Laura  Furtman.    (photo credit to this group)

 According  to  Stoddard:   “The  notice  letter  and  potential  lawsuit  is  based  on  the  monitoring  data  that  has  been  collected  by  FMC  and  provided  to  the  DNR  nd  WRPC.   The  data  shows  that  runoff  from  the  Flambeau  Mine  is  in  violation  of  applicable  surface  water  quality  standards  and  is  illegaly  polluting  a  nearby  stream  and  the  Flambeau  River.   The  data  also  shows  that  groundwater  at  the  mine  site  is  polluted  and,  at  a  minimum,  requires  expanded  monitoring.   However,  the  DNR  has  failed  to  properly  regulate  FMC  and  has,  instead,  allowed  the  company  to  violate  the  law  and  portray  the  Flambeau  Mine  as  an  environmental  success  story  when  it  is  not.”    

  The  WRPC  is  a  conservation  organization  that  was  founded  in  1982  to  address  concerns  over  mining  in  northern  Wisconsin.   Al  Gedicks,  of  LaCrosse,  Wisconsin,  is  WRPC’s  Executive  Secretary  and  he  is  also  one  of  the  two  individuals  bringing  the  case.  

  “It  appears  that  FMC  has  been  glossing  over  its  own  data  in  order  to  claim  that  the  Flambeau  Mine  is  an  environmental  success  stry,  when  the  data  actually  shows  that  the  Mine  is  causing  pollution  just  as  we  had  predicted  before  it  was  permitted  by  the  DNR  bak  in  1991.   We  are  pursuing  this  case  now  in  order  to  bring  out  the  truth  and  hold  both  FMC  and  the  DNR  legally  accountable  for  the  damag  being  done  to  our  environment  by  the  Flambeau  Mine.”   

  Laura  Furtman,  of  Webster,  Wisconsin,  is  the  other  individual  bringing  the  case.   Furtman  said:   “I  am  concerned  about  the  DNR’s  lax  approach  to  enforcement  and  FMC’s  poor  science  and  claims  of  environmental  success,  because  this  sends  the  wrong  message  to  people  in  northern  Wisconsin  and  other  areas  that  are  faced  with  new  mining  proposals.   The  facts  show  that  the  Flambeau  Mine  is  anything  but  a  success  and  is,  instead,  a  serious  environmental  problem  that  neither  the  DNR  nor  FMC  want  to  acknowledge publicly.

 The  Flambeau  Mine,  located  in  Rusk  County,  Wisconsin,  was  an  open  pit  metallic  sulfide  mine  that  produced  181,000  tons  of  copper,  334,000  ounces  of  gold  and  3.3  million  ounces  of  silver  over  its  four‐year  life  span  (1993‐1997).  The  Flambeau  River  formed  the  western  boundary  of  the  project  area,  and  the  pit  itself  was  constructed  to  within  150  feet  of  the  river.  In  late  1997,  the  32‐acre  pit  was  backfilled  with  waste  rock  containing  heavy  metals,  sulfides  and  sludge.   

  According  to  Dr.  David  Chambers,  an  expert  in  geophysics  who  reviewed  FMC’s  water  quality  data  for  WRPC,  there  are  problems  with  both  surface  water  and  groundwater  pollution  at  the  Flambeau  Mine  site.  In  particular,  a  major  area  of  concern  involves  a  small  tributary  of  the  Flambeau  River  known  as  “Stream  C.”    

  When  FMC  closed  the  mine,  a  drainage  ditch  and  pond  were  constructed  to  collect  polluted  runoff  coming  from  the  mine  site,  and  a  second  ditch  was  constructed  to  convey  that  water  to  Stream  C.   According  to  Chambers,  who  is  the  President  of  the  Center  for  Science  in  Public  Participation  out  of  Bozeman,  Montana,  “Copper  levels  in  Stream  C  exceed  Wisconsin  water  quality  standards  both  at  the  discharge  point  from  the  pond  into  Stream  C  and  rom  Stream  C  as  it  flows  into  the  Flambeau  River.”  He  added,  “The  latest  round  of  data  I’ve  seen  shows  copper  levels  about  seven  times  higher  than  the  Wisconsin  standard  at  the  pond’s  outle.”   

  A  second  issue  relates  to  groundwater  pollution  at  the  Flambeau  Mine  site.  Dr.  Kendra  Zamzow,  an  environmental  chemist  who  works  with  Chambers,  analyzed  contaminant  levels  in  a  well  drilled  in  the  path  of  water  flowing  from  the  backfilled  pit  to  the  Flambeau  River.  She  said:  “There  have  been  consistent  and  statistically  significant  violations  of  1991  Flambeau  Mine  permit  standards  in  this  well,  which  is  about  125  feet  from  the  river.  The  heavy  metal  manganese,  for  example,  is  currently  registering  over  four  times  higher  than  the  permit  standard”   

  WRPC  has  also  taken  issue  with  FMC’s  monitoring  program  for  tracking  the  biological  effects  of  metals  making  their  way  into  th  Flambeau  River  from  the  mine  site.   The  group  enlisted  the  help  of  Dr.  Ken  Parejko,  an  aquatic  biologist  and  Professor  Emeritus  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin‐Stout,  to  evaluate  FMC’s  biological  studies.    

  Parejko  concluded  that  there  were  serious  flaws  in  the  company’s  study  design,  making  it  “difficult  to  draw  any  conclusions  regarding  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  mining‐related  effect”  on  the  Flambeau  River.  Yet,  he  added,  “The  combined  observation  of  statistically  significant  increased  copper  concentrations  in  crayfish,  walleye  and  sediment  downstream  from  the  mine  site  raises  the  possibility  of  a  causal  relationship.”   

  The  conservationists  are  seeking  a  number  of  remedies  for  the  pollution  at  the  mine  from  the  DNR  and  FMC,  including  but  not  limited  to  more  restrictive  permitting  requirements,  fines,  remedial  action,  and  increased  monitoring  at  the  site  and  in  the  Flambeau  River.  

  More  information  and  complete  copies  of  the  formal  Notice  Letter  and  supporting  expert  reports  are  available  on  WRPC’s  website at:  www.wrpc.net  

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 NEWS  RELEASE  Date:  June  22,  2009      Contact: Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

                                                            Al Gedicks, Executive Secretary (608) 784-4399

                                                            Laura Furtman  (715)  635 – 7928

                                                            Attorney Glenn Stoddard  (715)  852-0345    

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