Up North Progressive

The Up North Progressive email inbox received a very strong reminder Eagle Mine needs their survey filled out before the deadline on Friday, July 13th. They even included the dates of previous emails to emphasize the urgency of needing input. Eagle Mine if you recall is the operation currently drilling for minerals near Marquette. They have a deserved shaky relationship with the locals concerned about the environmental impact the mining operation has on local watersheds.

The survey is pretty straightforward. They want to know people’s personal perceptions of the mining operation, and if there are any concerns from the public about what is going on there. They even sweeten the deal for giving up your time to complete the survey.

A whole dollar to the no-kill shelter it is!

Before this survey, Eagle Mine gave away Lego toy sets in an effort to both bolster positive opinions of the mine and distract people with new toys.

If you take the time to fill out the short survey, some things you need to know about recent events with Eagle Mine:

Eagle Mine/Lundin Mining tried very hard to suppress the public finding out about a major cave-in that happened in the fall of 2016. From Save The Wild UP:

Rumors of the underground collapse at Eagle Mine first surfaced in fall of 2016, when a story circulated that some “mine contractors” had quit over an underground incident they felt was “dangerous.” Responding to the direct question “Was there a partial pillar collapse?” Eagle Mine confirmed that an incident had taken place, but did not use the term “collapse” and provided only a few details

This, of course, calls into question Eagle Mine’s willingness to be transparent in what is happening at the mine while offering toys instead to generate goodwill with the public. The cave-in generated enough concern to prompt the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to hold a public hearing last year over permits Lundin Mining requested from the state to mine even more land.

County Road 595 is dead. On March 20, 2018, the last appeal from the Marquette County Road Commission was turned down in the US 6th Circuit Court. If the road at this point is ever to be built, it will either need to be picked up by the Army Corps of Engineers or taken to the United States Supreme Court. Objections to the road come from the fact the proposed route would cut through an undeveloped land with several watersheds that would need to be diverted. Eagle Mine insists they have nothing to do with this road being built, but the Marquette County Road Commission proposed this project only after mine traffic through Marquette became an issue. Originally, Lundin Mining promised the community their activity at Eagle Mine would not create any traffic problems for Marquette because they were going to use the local railroad to move their ore. This never happened.

You have until Friday, July 13, 2018, to complete the survey. Be accurate. Be polite. Let Lundin Mining and Eagle Mine know we haven’t forgotten about them.