Ex-FS Chief Tom Tidwell: Industrial mining must be kept away from the Boundary Waters: “I first saw the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in July 2014 from a seat in a U.S. Forest Service floatplane. Below me, stretching as far as I could see, was some of the most beautiful country I had ever encountered in my 40-year career with the U.S. Forest Service. The Boundary Waters — part of the Superior National Forest, which is public land owned by all Americans — contains almost 1.1 million acres of forests, lakes, streams, and wetlands. It is the most-visited wilderness area in America and has been every year since its designation under the Wilderness Act of 1964…When exposed to air and water, sulfide ore in which copper and other minerals occur creates sulfuric acid and generates heavy metals and other pollutants. This is sometimes called "acid mine drainage." This type of mining is more common in drier landscapes in western states. Even there, water pollution is significant and persistent. The vast network of waterways in the Boundary Waters region makes it particularly vulnerable to acid mine drainage. The increased acidity and heavy metal pollution could be catastrophic. It would be impossible to contain pollution given the interconnectedness of the waters. Compounding the problem is the absence of natural calcium carbonates, which means the water has virtually no capacity to buffer acid mine drainage. The waterways along the Minnesota-Ontario border would carry pollution from a Twin Metals mine downstream to Voyageurs National Park in the U.S. and to Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario.  Because of the obvious risk to a national treasure, in my position as chief of the U.S. Forest Service, I initiated a review of copper mining in the area in 2014. The process included a public-comment period, two public hearings, and careful scientific assessment of the impact sulfide-ore mining could have on the Boundary Waters watershed. The review process proved conclusively that the watershed of the Boundary Waters is absolutely the wrong place for this type of mining…The administration of President Donald Trump reversed all this. In May, it brushed aside the science-based review and analysis that began in 2014 and reinstated the Twin Metals leases. On Sept. 6, the Trump administration canceled the deeper study on the need for a 20-year ban on mining activity in the watershed, further paving the way for Antofagasta's Twin Metals to build an industrial mining complex on the edge of the Boundary Waters. These were bad, anti-science decisions that went against the core mission of the Forest Service, which is to protect our national forest lands. Sidestepping careful scientific review and enabling sulfide-ore mining imperils the entire Boundary Water region, which has a vigorous and sustainable economy centered on clean water and a healthy natural landscape.”

[Duluth News Tribune 11/9/18] https://goo.gl/Kh9uTT

Federal judge blocks Keystone XL pipeline construction: “A federal judge blocked construction of the Keystone XL pipeline Thursday. The ruling says the Trump administration violated environmental laws when it approved a permit for the pipeline. The court ordered the Department of State to update the project’s environmental impact statement, which was drafted in 2014. "The Court enjoins Federal Defendants and TransCanada from engaging in any activity in furtherance of the construction or operation of Keystone and associated facilities," the court document says, "until the Department has completed a supplement to the 2014 SEIS (Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement) that complies with the requirements of NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and the APA (Administrative Procedure Act)." The court also ruled that the permit violated the Endangered Species Act. The Obama administration denied a permit based on the contents of the environmental impact statement before the Trump administration reversed that decision. Officials must provide an explanation as to why that decision was reversed if it hopes to proceed. The pipeline would transport oil from Canada’s tar sands across the U.S. to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Tar sands mining is considered one of the dirtiest sources of energy in the world. The Keystone XL pipeline is also facing financial problems – the TransCanada energy company has not committed to build, even if it receives the necessary permits.”

[CNN, 11/9/18] https://goo.gl/KEHJ8d

Work to halt on Keystone XL pipeline while environmental impact reassessed, judge orders: “Work on the Keystone XL pipeline must halt until the U.S. State Department and TransCanada have reassessed the pipeline’s environmental impact, a judge ordered Thursday. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris ruled that enough has changed since the pipeline was first approved that new information should be considered. The new information may indicate Keystone is no longer needed. Specifically, oil prices have fallen. Keystone's route has changed. And another pipeline, the Alberta Clipper, has been approved since Keystone was first proposed.  Groups questioning Keystone's viability and compelling the court to order updated information include the Indigenous Environmental Network, North Coast River Alliance and Northern Plains Resource Council. Their lawsuit was filed in March 2017 against the U.S. State Department, TransCanada Corp. and the Keystone Pipeline. Under Morris' Thursday order, the State Department and TransCanada Corp. must bring its supplemental environmental impact statement into compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. The judge ordered the defendants to take a “hard look” at: 1) the financial viability of the pipeline based on current oil prices, which are lower than the project originally projected; 2) the effects of greenhouse gas emissions from the project, taking into account the expansion of another pipeline, the Alberta Clipper; 3) a survey of potential cultural resources contained in the 1,038 acres that weren't surveyed in the supplemental environmental impact statement; 4) updated modeling of potential oil spills and recommended mitigation measures. "The Court enjoins Federal Defendants and TransCanada from engaging in any activity in furtherance of the construction or operation of Keystone and associated facilities until the Department has completed a supplement to the 2014 SEIS that complies with the requirements of NEPA and the APA," Morris wrote.”

[The Missoulian, 11/9/18] https://goo.gl/7M99tu

Federal judge blocks Keystone XL construction: “A district court last night iced further work on the Keystone XL pipeline until the Trump administration can adequately justify its decision to greenlight the project. The State Department must revisit several key questions in its National Environmental Policy Act analysis before TransCanada Corp. and TransCanada Keystone Pipeline LP can move forward on the long-delayed oil pipeline, Judge Brian Morris for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana wrote in his order. The Trump administration must reassess and further explain its analysis of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from both Keystone XL and Enbridge Inc.'s Alberta Clipper pipeline expansion, Morris, an Obama appointee, found. In the environmental impact statement for Alberta Clipper, the State Department estimated that the two projects would result in an annual emissions increase of between 2.1 million and 49.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. "A difference of this magnitude cannot be dismissed simply as harmless error," Morris wrote. He also ordered the State Department to reassess the potential for oil spills, impacts to cultural resources and implications of current oil prices. TransCanada had indicated that it planned to begin construction in early 2019. Plaintiffs in the case hailed Morris' order as a major setback to that schedule. "Today's ruling is a victory for the rule of law, and it's a victory for common-sense stewardship of the land and water upon which we all depend," said Dena Hoff, a Montana farmer and a member of the Northern Plains Resource Council. "Despite the best efforts of wealthy, multinational corporations and the powerful politicians who cynically do their bidding, we see that everyday people can still band together and successfully defend their rights.’”
[E&E News, 11/9/18] https://goo.gl/x7UhrY

Justin McCarthy

Communications Director, NEPA Campaign

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The Partnership Project, a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit, is a collaborative effort of over 20 of the country’s most influential advocacy organizations, including Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, League of Conservation Voters, Earthjustice, and Natural Resources Defense Council.