"Suspension favors tribe, which asserts Indigenous water quality standards."
"A federal regulator has suspended the permit it issued to PolyMet Mining Corp. to fill or dredge more than 900 acres of wetland for Minnesota's first copper mine, handing a victory to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
The move spotlights the band's groundbreaking effort to assert Indigenous water quality standards as a "downstream state" under the Clean Water Act.
It also means that five major permits for the $1 billion PolyMet project are now stayed or under review.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stayed the "404" wetlands permit it issued to PolyMet in order for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review whether the copper mine project will negatively affect the reservation waters of the Fond du Lac Band."
Jennifer Bjorhus reports for the Minneapolis Star Tribune March 19, 2021.
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