[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12379-12380]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




OPPOSING PROPOSED LEGISLATION THAT THREATENS THE BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE 
                            AREA WILDERNESS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 2017

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record my letter to the 
Chairman and Ranking Member of the Energy and Mineral Resources 
Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee. The letter 
expresses my strong opposition to a discussion draft the Committee held 
a hearing on this week, proposed by Representative Tom Emmer, that 
would undercut existing environmental and public lands laws to allow a 
Chilean mining conglomerate to conduct dangerous sulfide-ore coppering 
mining adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.


                                     House of Representatives,

                                    Washington, DC, July 27, 2017.
     Hon. Paul Gosar,
     Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals, House 
         Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Alan Lowenthal,
     Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals, House 
         Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Gosar and Ranking Member Lowenthal: I write 
     to express my strong opposition to the discussion draft 
     proposed by Representative Tom Emmer considered today, July 
     27, in the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee of the 
     House Natural Resources Committee. This proposed legislation 
     would undercut existing environmental and public lands laws 
     to allow a Chilean mining conglomerate to conduct dangerous 
     sulfide-ore coopering mining adjacent to the Boundary Waters 
     Canoe Area Wilderness.
       Located in northeastern Minnesota along the United States' 
     border with Canada, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness 
     (BWCAW) comprises approximately 1.1 million acres of 
     unspoiled woodlands and more than 1,000 pristine lakes. It is 
     home to iconic species such as loons, moose, and lynx, while 
     the waters support thriving populations of walleye, bass, and 
     trout.
       Congress recognized the value of this unique national 
     treasure when it passed the Boundary Waters Canoe Area 
     Wilderness Act in 1978. This critical legislation established 
     necessary protections for the BWCAW, prohibiting logging and 
     mining and placing limits on the use of motorized vehicles to 
     preserve the unspoiled nature of this special area.
       That law strengthened the federal role as caretaker of this 
     area of unparalleled natural beauty, and in doing so built 
     upon more than a century of actions by federal and state 
     governments. In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt created 
     the Superior National Forest to protect the surrounding area. 
     In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act 
     into law, and set aside one million acres of the Boundary 
     Waters as a wilderness area. In 1976, the state of Minnesota 
     banned mining on state lands within the Boundary Waters.
       These polices have ensured that Minnesota's Boundary Waters 
     are one of the few remaining wild places in the United 
     States.
       The BWCAW does not exist in isolation, however. It is a 
     critical part of a vast, interconnected watershed that flows 
     through the Superior National Forest and into Voyageurs 
     National Park and Canada's Quetico Provincial Park. While the 
     Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978 prohibited 
     mining within the Boundary Waters itself, it did not address 
     existing mineral leases located within the parts of the 
     watershed in the Superior National Forest.
       In 2011, Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta announced 
     plans for its Twin Metals sulfide-ore copper mine on federal 
     land within this watershed. Antofagasta planned to pursue 
     this mining under mineral leases issued in 1966, before the 
     enactment of modern environmental legislation such as the 
     National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. 
     However, those leases expired in 2014, requiring Antofagasta 
     to apply for a renewal.
       Under the terms of the leases, the Bureau of Land 
     Management (BLM) reviewed and denied those renewals in 
     December 2016, based on a denial of consent from the United 
     States Forest Service (USFS). The USFS determined that 
     copper-sulfide ore mining on these leases would pose an 
     unacceptable risk that ``might cause serious and 
     Irreplaceable harm to this unique, iconic, and irreplaceable 
     wilderness area''.
       Sulfide-ore mining is the most toxic industry in America, 
     polluting waterways with acid drainage that contains arsenic, 
     mercury and lead.
       Researchers that surveyed sulfide-ore copper mines in North 
     America found that every mine had leeched pollution into 
     surrounding water, with 92 percent failing to contain mine 
     seepage and seriously affecting water quality. Underscoring 
     the danger of sulfide-ore copper mining, the failure of the 
     Mount Polley copper mine in British Columbia in August 2014 
     released a toxic slurry of 10 billion liters of wastewater 
     and 5 billion liters of solid tailings. This immense 
     pollution destroyed the surrounding landscape and permanently 
     damaged an irreplaceable salmon spawning area.
       Simply put, sulfide-ore copper mining is not suited in the 
     vast, interconnected watershed that contains the BWCA, which 
     is exactly why the BLM and USFS determined that the 
     sustainable management of the forests, lakes and streams in 
     this area was best served by not renewing Antofagasta's 
     leases.
       This decision was also supported with action taken by the 
     state government. In March 2016, Minnesota Governor Mark 
     Dayton directed the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 
     ``not to authorize or enter into any new state access 
     agreements or lease agreements for mining operations'' on 
     state lands in close proximity to the BWCAW.

[[Page 12380]]

       Following the denial of the leases, the USFS submitted an 
     application to the Secretary of the interior to withdraw 
     portions of the watershed that flows Into the BWCAW from 
     future mineral permits and leases, to remove the threat of 
     sulfide-ore mining throughout this sensitive landscape. 
     Today, the USFS and the BLM are conducting a thorough 
     environmental analysis to determine whether the lands should 
     be withdrawn from mineral leasing for a period of 20 years. 
     In addition to relying on sound science, this review includes 
     input from the public and key stakeholders. In just the past 
     two weeks, more than 1,500 people have attended public 
     meetings held by the USFS in Virginia, Minnesota and St. 
     Paul, Minnesota.
       This environmental review and public input process is the 
     best path forward, as Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue 
     affirmed to me during a hearing of the House Interior-
     Environment Appropriations Subcommittee on May 27, 2017. In 
     response to a question about the study, Secretary Perdue 
     responded: ``We are determined to proceed in that effort and 
     let it run its course. No decision will be made prior to the 
     conclusion of that.''
       Unfortunately, the discussion draft presented by 
     Representative Emmer entirely short-circuits this careful and 
     deliberate review process, recklessly overturns the science-
     based denial of consent decision from the USFS, and attacks 
     existing environmental and public lands laws--all for the 
     benefit of a foreign conglomerate's mining project.
       I have several serious concerns about the far-reaching 
     impacts of the discussion draft presented by Representative 
     Emmer:
       It automatically grants Antofagasta two federal mineral 
     leases on Superior National Forest lands, ignoring the strong 
     federal and state opposition to sulfide-ore mining in this 
     area. One federal mineral lease is immediately adjacent to 
     the BWCAW and the second is within three miles of the BWCAW 
     boundary. Peer-reviewed science documents that acid mine 
     drainage from sulfide-ore copper mines on these leases would 
     flow through the Boundary Waters, Voyageurs National Park, 
     and Canada's Quetico Provincial Park. Attached to this letter 
     is a map that illustrates the extent of the pollution risk to 
     this interconnected watershed.
       It voids the Forest Service Record of Decision in which the 
     USFS denied to consent to the renewal of Antofagasta's 
     federal mineral leases based on the risk of harm to the 
     Boundary Waters if the leases were granted. The Forest 
     Service's decision on the lease renewals was made by 
     professional career USFS staff after a 3-year review, with 
     extensive opportunity for public comment. The decision cites 
     sound scientific evidence of harm to the BWCAW and 
     considerable public opposition to the projects. The 
     discussion draft ignores these facts entirely and recklessly 
     overturns the well-considered decision of the Forest Service.
       It undermines established laws governing mineral leasing in 
     the Superior National Forest, bypasses the National 
     Environmental Policy Act, and interferes with an ongoing 
     Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This proposal would 
     amend the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act and 
     override the law that gives USFS the right to consent to 
     mining in the Superior National Forest--making substantive 
     changes to these carefully established laws. By retroactively 
     reinstating the Twin Metals leases, the bill would also waive 
     the requirement that federal mineral leases in the watershed 
     go through a NEPA analysis. Furthermore, by reinstating these 
     leases and requiring Congressional approval for the 
     withdrawal of future leasing, this bill would shove aside the 
     scientific analysis and public input process of the current 
     EIS. All of this interference in the established legal 
     process governing federal mineral leasing will primarily 
     serve to benefit a foreign mining conglomerate.
       It fundamentally alters the 1906 Antiquities Act by 
     mandating Congressional approval for national monuments in 
     the Superior and Chippewa National Forests. This is a 
     virtually unprecedented attack on the Antiquities Act. This 
     bill chips away at fundamental conservation principles in the 
     United States by establishing a carve-out from one of our 
     nation's essential public lands laws.
       These concerns have been echoed by leaders at some of the 
     United States' foremost organizations advocating for the 
     protection of our environment and the conservation of our 
     public lands. I have attached statements from them to this 
     letter.
       If this legislation were allowed to move forward with these 
     troubling provisions intact, it would not only undercut 
     existing environmental and public lands laws. It would also 
     undermine the environmental and economic health of northern 
     Minnesota.
       Drawn by the pristine landscape, the BWCAW today attracts 
     more than 250,000 visitors each year who take advantage of 
     unparalleled opportunities to canoe, fish, and explore this 
     area.
       These visitors have been a boon to a thriving outdoor 
     recreation economy in the area. According to the Iron Range 
     Resources & Rehabilitation Board, tourism in Northeastern 
     Minnesota supports 18,000 jobs and brings $850 million in 
     sales annually to the region. These jobs are dependent on a 
     healthy watershed, and Representative Emmer's plan to 
     reinstate leases for copper-sulfide ore mining would put 
     these jobs and the growing economy they support at risk.
       As the previous administration explained when issuing their 
     denial of the Twin Metals leases: ``It is well established 
     that acid mine drainage is a significant environmental risk 
     at sulfide ore mine sites like the one proposed for these 
     leased lands and in a water-based ecosystem like the Boundary 
     Waters because contaminated water could have dramatic impacts 
     to aquatic life, sport fisheries, and recreation-based uses 
     and communities.''
       As Members of Congress, we have an obligation to be good 
     stewards of our nation's natural resources. It would be a 
     grave mistake to allow dangerous mining to take place on the 
     edge of the Boundary Waters, one of the last wild places in 
     our country.
       I urge you to oppose the discussion draft presented by 
     Representative Emmer.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Betty McCollum,
                                               Member of Congress.
       Enclosures.


STATEMENTS OPPOSING THE DISCUSSION DRAFT FROM LEADING ENVIRONMENTAL AND 
                       PUBLIC LANDS ORGANIZATIONS

       Lena Moffitt, Director of Our Wild American Program, Sierra 
     Club:
       The waters of Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters are a 
     precious national resource, depended on and enjoyed by 
     millions of Americans. Sadly, members of Congress are clearly 
     prioritizing the interests of multinational mining companies 
     over the needs of both local communities and the American 
     public. We strongly oppose these attacks on our public lands 
     and waters, and call on Congressional leaders to do the same.
       Jamie Williams, President, The Wilderness Society:
       The Emmer mining bill is yet another dangerous attack on 
     our public lands. Anti-conservation interests are determined 
     to let Congress sell or lease to private profiteers our 
     nation's natural treasures that are owned by all Americans. 
     In addition to opening the door to sulfide-ore mining in the 
     priceless Boundary Waters watershed, the bill undermines 
     bedrock conservation laws including the Antiquities Act, used 
     by Republican and Democratic presidents alike to protect 
     places of historic or natural significance. The Boundary 
     Waters is one of the original places protected by the 1964 
     Wilderness Act, is America's most visited wilderness area, 
     and its waters must be protected from industrial mining.
       Alex Taurel, Deputy Legislative Director, League of 
     Conservation Voters:
       This radical legislation would harm Minnesota's outdoor 
     recreation economy by allowing a foreign mining company to 
     build a risky mine that threatens the health of America's 
     most visited wilderness area in the spectacular Boundary 
     Waters. We urge members of Congress to oppose this harmful 
     bill that greenlights a decision on the project based on 
     politics and shamefully cuts out the voices of Minnesotans 
     and people across the country that have engaged in a lengthy 
     public process.

                          ____________________