Delay in mine permit process sought

MENOMINEE — A petition seeking an Environmental Impact Study on Aquila Resources’ proposed Back Forty Project near Shakey Lakes in Menominee County is circulating with the hopes to delay the permit process until a response has been received from elected officials on both sides of the Menominee River.

The petition is addressed to the chairman of the Menominee County Board of Commissioners, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, DNR and Gov. Rick Snyder, the chairman of the Marinette County Board, Wisconsin DNR and Gov. Scott Walker. It requests the various state elected officials arrange for an independent Environmental Impact Study to be performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Interior concerning the environmental, social and economic impact of the proposed operation in Lake Township in Menominee County.

The study is being requested because of an alleged exceptionally high risk of negatively polluting the river and severely altering the ecology of portions of Menominee and Marinette counties and other population areas dependent on Lake Michigan for their water source...

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