Hundreds of citizens from around the state of Wisconsin gathered on the Capitol steps Wednesday to protest the Gogebic Taconite Iron Mining Bill, which would ease regulations and make it easier for companies to mine iron ore.
The bill is intended to aid Gogebic Taconite, a Florida based mining company, in building a 22-mile iron mine in Ashland and Iron counties.
Gogebic Taconite maintains that the mine itself will generate 700 new jobs while adding another 2,000 jobs in the transportation and service industries. But they will not proceed with their plans unless Wisconsin lawmakers change the current permit process, which places more restrictions on mining iron ore.
Those at Wednesday’s protest, however, said the mine would have harmful effects on the environment and water resources.
“Once that hole is dug, and once those wetlands are gone, and the streams are running backwards into a cesspool of pollution, there’s no way to reverse it; there’s only a way to mitigate it,” Red Cliff Tribal Attorney Glenn Reynolds said.
At the protest, Secretary of State Doug La Follette said mining proposals show Gov. Walker’s policies are moving Wisconsin in the wrong direction.
“What used to be a progressive state that cared about the people of the state has now been hijacked by the Koch brothers and millions of dollars of money from out of state; the kind of money that supports this kind of mining,” La Follette said.
But the Republican supported bill received praise from Gov. Walker at Wednesday’s State of the State Address, calling the mining legislation “a tremendous opportunity for job growth.”
“We can pass legislation that will streamline the process for safe and environmentally sound mining,” Walker said.
Provisions of the bill include eradicating hearings on proposed mining permits, reducing the number of public hearings, and eliminating regulations that make it easier for companies to dump waste into wetlands and divert water resources.
The bill will likely pass when the State Assembly votes on it this Thursday but its fate in the senate is still uncertain.
