ELY, MN (Northland's NewsCenter)--The St. Louis County Board passed a resolution, 4-3 in support of non-ferrous mining.
New language in the resolution strengthens environmental and clean up regulations.
Both supporters and critics of non-ferrous mining showed up at their meeting in Ely.
Mining experts say with the vast supply of non-ferrous mineral resources throughout the Iron Range, support from the county board will open up the global marketplace to the region.
"When local units of government in the area where a project is proposed are supportive, that sends a very positive message to the global investment community looking at bringing hundreds of millions of dollars for each and every project into the state of Minnesota," Frank Ongaro, Executive Director of Mining Minnesota said.
Critics say the resolution is premature and irresponsible, a debate between health and wealth.
Many say there is no reason to rush the decision and would like the board to wait until mining companies can prove their commitment to maintaining health and environmental standards.
"It will poison the water for thousands of years, the Polymet draft EIS says that it will," Reid Carron, of Ely said. "The ecosystem will not recover without a tremendous amount of public finance after the mining companies have declared bankruptcy and left."
Many supporters say a resolution of support from the board will make sure future generations continue to live on the Range and bring money and jobs to the region.
"We need to have economic development here or people will suffer," Bill Whiteside of Hibbing said. "We need to have resources, minerals that are important to not just us, but people throughout the United States and throughout the world."
Fourth District Commissioner Mike Forsman says any project must meet state and federal standards before moving forward.
"I think the technology has evolved to the point where it can be done right and the regulatory agencies aren't going to let it be done any other way," he said.
The boards decision came just before 6 p.m. after nearly 8 hours of discussion.
Posted to the web: Jennifer Walch
jwalch@northlandsnewscenter.com
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