03/04/2007

Reversal on mine shows intrigue

By George Weeks
Syndicated columnist

Despite misgivings on a number of water and other issues, environmentalists aren't about to brand Gov. Jennifer Granholm as tone deaf on their causes, as was her predecessor, John Engler.

But they blew a gasket — in hyped words of the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC) — at the governor for "recklessly endangering the environment” because her Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) gave preliminary approval for the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. to mine nickel in the Yellow Dog Plains of Marquette County by boring into sulfide ore nine miles from Lake Superior.

"The governor is headed down a dangerous path that leads directly from a U.P. sulfide mine to the Great Lakes,” the MEC's Hugh McDiarmid, Jr., a highly respected ex-Detroit Free Press writer who crossed over to be an advocate, wrote Feb. 14 in the Charlevoix-based North Woods Call.

I would not presume from afar to assess danger of that path in a part of Michigan where mining has long been a jobs lifeblood. My interest is in the context of how the waffle-prone Granholm Administration deals with environmental-conservation issues at a time when it is understandably preoccupied with massive budget and jobs woes.

Of particular interest is how DEQ Director Steven Chester on March 1, in withdrawing the tentative approval because of DEQ's inadequate consideration of reports questioning "structural integrity of the mine,” did something all too rare in government at all levels: He acknowledged a staff screw-up and ordered a review of the matter during which "affected staff will be reassigned to other projects.” Welcome candor.

Sen. Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, a former Steelworkers local president and mine worker, told me Friday after a conference call with Chester and others, that it was apparent that the regulatory process had "fallen apart,” leaving the project for the time being "rocked back (on its) heels.” It seems that someone in the DEQ bureaucracy, upon receiving the critical reports from retained consultants, did not forward them up the line.

The MEC and Sierra Club's Michigan Chapter, in a joint release, called "for a thorough investigation into how key technical reports were buried, who buried them, and what their motivations were.” Marquette-based Marvin Roberson of the Sierra Club said it well: "We have confidence in the mining law and the process that's been created to evaluate proposed mining operations. But none of that matters if there's incompetence or malfeasance on the part of the people who apply those rules.” The project is not dead. DEQ spokesman Bob McCann said Friday that while the department is reconsidering how the preliminary decision was made, there's no timetable for a final decision. Scheduled hearings this week in Marquette and March 12 in Lansing have been cancelled.

Chester vowed his department "has committed itself to making this process as open and transparent as possible” — an openness vow that should be echoed throughout state government and Michigan's cities, counties, villages and townships.

Traverse City environmental attorney Jim Olson, while hailing DEQ withdrawal of its tentative Kennecott approval, said Granholm has been "sending out split-signals; one toward more stringent conservation and environmental stewardship, the other toward environmental indifference.” Olson has circuit court battles with DEQ in Otsego County for its approval of a Merit Energy pumping plan regarding Kolke Creek in the headwaters of the Au Sable River, and in Mecosta County on the simmering dispute over Nestle's Ice Mountain groundwater withdrawals for bottling exports that is before the Michigan Supreme Court.

Groundwater Guardian Olson had hopes that with the Granholm Administration, "it would not be a cakewalk anymore” for those who challenge environmental standards.

With DEQ's pullback on Kennecott, Olson sees "a glimmer” of hope — but not much more.

George Weeks retired last year after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features