Minnesota Supreme Court hands victory to PolyMet copper mine
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed an appeals court's rejection of a critical air emissions permit for the planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine and sent the case back for further proceedings.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency was not required under federal law to investigate allegations by
environmental groups and a Native American tribe of "sham
permitting."
PolyMet and the state agency took the case to the state's
highest court after the Minnesota Court of Appeals last March sent the air
permit for the $1 billion mine back to the regulators for further review. The
appeals court said the agency had not adequately evaluated whether the air
permit understated the company's real plans. That court took note of securities
filings indicating that PolyMet was considering expanding the mine to four
times the size that the air permit would allow, but that would require a new
permitting process.
The Supreme Court sent the case back to the Court of Appeals
to consider whether the agency correctly concluded that PolyMet would comply
with all terms of the permit, and whether PolyMet had failed to fully disclose
all relevant facts or submitted false or misleading information to the agency.
The open pit mine and processing plant near Babbitt and Hoyt
Lakes would be Minnesota's first copper-nickel mine. Environmentalists have
fought the project because of the potential for acid mine drainage upstream
from Lake Superior. The opponents are a coalition of groups led by the
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy plus the Fond du Lac Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa.
Although the ruling was at least a partial defeat for the
mine opponents, the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and others
welcomed the remand order as a chance to continue pressing the argument that
PolyMet hasn't been straight about its plans.
"Today's ruling underscores that the entire process by
which PolyMet obtained its permits in 2018 may have been deceptive and allows
us to make this case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals," Kathryn Hoffman
the group's chief executive, said in a statement. "PolyMet has engaged in
a bait-and-switch scheme to avoid air pollution standards, and we are glad that
the Supreme Court ruling allows us to make this case."
But PolyMet, whose majority shareholder is Swiss commodities
giant Glencore, expressed confidence that it would prevail.
"We believe strongly that the facts and the law are on
our side, and we are pleased that the court agreed with us on the law,"
CEO Jon Cherry said in a statement.
PolyMet still has several other legal hurdles to clear
before it can begin mining. A ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court on the
appeals court's decision to cancel PolyMet's permit to mine and dam safety
permits remains pending. PolyMet's water quality permit is on hold at the
appeals court. And arguments are expected this summer in federal court on
challenges to the company's wetlands permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.
PolyMet is far more advanced in the permitting process than
another proposed copper-nickel mine for northeastern Minnesota, Twin Metals
near Ely, which is owned by the Chilean mining group Antofagasta. Twin Metals
would be be built in a different watershed, one that flows into the pristine
federal Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The Trump administration revived
that project after the Obama administration tried to kill it because of
environmental risks.
A key figure in the Obama administration's decision on Twin
Metals was Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed for a second
stint Tuesday. His agency oversees the U.S. Forest Service, which oversees the
Boundary Waters. Environmentalists are now hoping the Biden administration will
block Twin Metals again and are also challenging it in court.
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