Trump Order Strips Protection From Boundary Waters Wilderness So Mining Can Begin, Because Fuck Earth [View all]

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Despite hours of impassioned arguments from Sen. Tina Smith, the U.S. Senate ended a Biden-era moratorium on mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness watershed. The vote on Thursday removed a major hurdle for Twin Metals, which has battled to extract nickel, copper and other metals in Superior National Forest.

Twin Metals, which has tried to establish a mine in that area since 2019, will soon be able to request federal permits to restart work on that project after President Donald Trump, as expected, signs into law the resolution that would lift the 20-year moratorium. The moratorium was put in place by the U.S. Forest Service in 2023 because of concerns over the environmental dangers of sulfide mining and the possible contamination of a favored destination for canoers and sportsmen.

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Minnesota’s Democratic senators also warned of the devastating environmental impact of the copper-sulfide mining near the 3 million acre Boundary Waters. “In 100% of the instances (these mines) have always caused pollution,” Smith said.

Smith also said removal of the moratorium was opposed by Minnesota tribes that have treaty rights to hunt, fish and harvest wild rice in the Superior National Forest and other tribes across the nation. Smith also argued that Twin Metals, a subsidiary of Chilean mining company Antofagasta, would send any ore extracted from the Superior National Forest to smelters in China.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16042026/minnesotas-boundary-waters-just-lost-protection-from-mining/