Today Is Deadline For EPA Letters Opposing Mine

Please take a few minutes before the end of the working day today, write in support of the Bad River band in NW Wisconsin and tell the EPA to stop the Penokee Hills mountaintop-removal/open-pit/watershed trashing iron mine.

Details, here:

The US EPA needs to hear from each of us by Aug. 15 in support of the Bad River band's resistance to the proposed GTac open-pit iron ore mine. I'm copying out below the advisory information that came to me. As always when writing a letter, use your own language and personal experiences. Many thanks: Led by Bad River, six Ojibwe bands have asked the EPA to undertake a 404c process, which would allow them to preemptively stop  proposed iron mining in the Penokee Hills because of the importance of the resources that it threatens. They need your help. This is a very simple “ask” but possibly the most important single thing you can do this summer toward stopping the mine. They are asking everyone from all parts of the state to write. Using a copy of the pre-addressed letter (see below or go to Protect the Penokee Hills), please date, sign and add a brief statement based on your own experience that tells how you/your family/your business would be affected by mining discharge and the pollution of the watershed. Or, better yet, write a letter in your own words. The entire stack of MANY completed letters will be presented to the EPA when the tribes meet with them on August 21, so send your letter to the Bad River Tribe by August 15th.   Either email your online version to:  CommDir@badriver-nsn.gov     Or mail hard copy to: Mark Rolo, Bad River Legal Department, PO Box 39, Odanah, WI 54861.          , 2014 Dr. Susan Hedman EPA Region 5 Administrator Environmental Protection Agency 77 West Jackson Boulevard Chicago, IL 60604-3507 Dear Dr. Hedman, In support of the formal request to you on May 27, 2014 from the Six Bands of the Anishinaabeg Territory Watersheds and Waters of Lake Superior: Bad River Band of Lake Superior; Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior; Lac du Flambeau Band; St. Croix Band; Sokoagon Band; Lac Courte Oreilles Band, I request that the Environmental Protection Agency initiate a public process under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to protect treaty rights, aquatic resources, fisheries, wildlife, subsistence and public uses in the Bad River Watershed and western Lake Superior Basin from metallic mining, including a potential Gogebic Taconite mine proposed to be located in the Penokee Range, headwaters of the Bad River Watershed. ** Add Your Personal Message Here ** Sincerely, Name City, State Let’s send a clear message to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in support of initiating the 404c Process. “CWA§404(c) authorizes the EPA to restrict, prohibit, deny, or withdraw the use of an area for the disposal of dredged or fill material, including mining wastes, when it is determined that discharge will have unacceptable adverse effects on fisheries, wildlife, shellfish beds, municipal water supplies, or recreational areas.” Here are a few points to help get you started writing: I am a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa…   My family has lived/conducted spiritual practices/farmed/harvested wild rice/hunted/fished/hiked/in the Bad River Watershed area for — generations…   I live (fish, hunt, gather, hike, bird watch, kayak, canoe…) in/my business is located in/ the area drained by the Bad River Watershed…   Mining waste discharge from GTAC’s proposed taconite mine in the Penokee Hills will disperse known harmful contaminants throughout the water-rich environment of the Bad River Watershed from the Bad River’s headwaters in the Penokee Range to its endpoints throughout the western Lake Superior Basin, thereby adversely affecting /the health and well-being of our human, plant and animal communities for years to come/ my community’s drinking water/the plants and animals  You can also find more info on the websiteprotectpenokeehills.org.