Resolution # 20-2 Proposed by: Rep. Jennifer Schultz, Minnesota
The Risk Posed to Great Lakes Basin Water Resources and the Health of Residents by Sulfide-Ore Copper Mining
WHEREAS,
restoration and protection of the Great Lakes requires maintenance of healthy watersheds and clean water in the tributaries to the Great Lakes; and
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
WHEREAS,
sulfide-ore copper mining is a type of hardrock mining; and
WHEREAS,
data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxics Release Inventory show hardrock mining, including sulfide-ore copper mining, is the nation’s largest toxic polluter 1 and has contaminated streams in the headwaters of more than 40% of
watersheds in the western United States; 2 and
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
WHEREAS,
even in arid places, sulfide-ore copper mining has a record of long-lasting water pollution, despite environmental review document predictions to the contrary; 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
and
WHEREAS,
no sulfide-ore copper mine has operated and closed without polluting surrounding
surface waters and groundwater; 10, 11, 12, 13 and
WHEREAS,
sulfide-ore copper mining water pollution in the Duluth Complex contains sulfates and heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, arsenic, copper, nickel, and mercury, which are
toxic to aquatic life and harmful to human health; and
WHEREAS,
sulfate pollution contributes to the formation and bioaccumulation of methylmercury in aquatic food chains, 14 such that, though concentrations of total mercury and methylmercury in water may be deemed safe for human consumption as drinking water, methylmercury concentration levels in fish – especially sought-after game fish species such as bass, walleye, northern pike, and lake trout – may reach levels up to 106 times
greater than in the water column; 15 and
WHEREAS,
aquatic wildlife and human adults whose diet is heavy in fish also are likely to receive
harmful levels of methylmercury; 16 and
WHEREAS,
nursing infants who have never eaten fish still receive methylmercury through their
mothers’ breast milk; 17 and
WHEREAS,
fetal blood appears to concentrate methylmercury to levels 1.7 times higher than
maternal blood; 18 and
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs