Press Release: MCEA to closely monitor Talon Metals sulfide-mining proposal as it enters environmental review
DATE: 06/21/23 CONTACT: Sarah Horner, MCEA, shornermncenter.org, 612-868-3024
St. Paul, Minnesota – Today, Talon Metals submitted hundreds of pages of documents to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, officially kicking off the environmental review process for its proposed sulfide mine in Tamarack, Minn.
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) will be reviewing the documents in detail in the coming days and weeks to understand the environmental risks that could arise from the project. MCEA is the state’s leading environmental law firm with decades of experience working on issues related to sulfide mining, including PolyMet’s/ NewRange Copper Nickel’s proposed sulfide mine in the Lake Superior watershed.
“We will be closely watching as the environmental review process for Talon’s proposal proceeds and doing our part to make sure Minnesota’s laws are upheld, the rights and concerns of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and other nearby communities are respected, and our state’s clean water is protected,” said Joy Anderson, a lead attorney for MCEA analyzing the Talon proposal.
Anderson added that the role of Minnesota’s state agencies is critical to effective environmental review.
“Our environmental review process works best when Minnesotans can trust that state agencies are upholding the public interest by gathering facts and applying the science and our state’s governing laws to these proposals. That is what MCEA will be watching for and pushing for in this process, she said.”
While sulfide mining is one method to obtain metals needed for domestic clean energy, the practice has historically led to significant pollution of clean water. The environmental impacts of Talon’s proposal will become clearer through environmental review, but, there are less mineral-intensive decarbonization tactics and cleaner ways to obtain metals - metal recycling chief among them - that we should be capitalizing on now.
“The United States puts a billion pounds of already-mined metals into our landfills every year. Those are metals we could be reclaiming to meet clean energy demand. Our state leaders need to be talking about how to make that clean energy strategy a priority right now. Mining should always be a last resort,” said Kathryn Hoffman, chief executive officer for MCEA.
MCEA has devoted significant time and resources to researching the costs and benefits of relying on mining to supply the metals needed for the transition to a clean energy economy. Learn more about our findings on our Mining the Climate Crisis webpage.
For additional inquiries about MCEA’s reaction to today’s announcement, please contact Sarah Horner.
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