Four Key Facts About Rick Nolan’s Position on Mining

Fact #1: Rep. Nolan has never and will never support mining in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

I have never and will never support any mining in the Boundary Waters. In fact, I was an original cosponsor of the legislation that established the protected Boundary Waters area. I am absolutely committed to safeguarding ALL our beautiful Minnesota lands and waters for future generations. 

Fact #2: Mining can be done effectively without harming Minnesota’s rivers and lakes.

The fact is, we’ve been mining here on the Iron Range for more than 130 years, and our waters are the cleanest and purest in the state. Take a look at the map below. As you can see, the river is in great shape as it runs down through the Iron Range. It’s only when the river approaches the Twin Cities that pollution increases and water quality becomes unsafe and unhealthy. Runoff from farms and factories have even forced some communities in Western Minnesota to pipe in clean drinking water.

Fact #3: All mining projects must go through the rigorous, multi-year environmental approval process.

If a mining project can’t meet state and federal environmental standards, it does not move forward. I have always supported high standards and a thorough process to ensure that Minnesota’s precious land, air, and water are protected.

These rigorous environmental reviews by both state and federal entities often take years to complete. For example, the proposed Polymet land exchange has undergone seven years of environmental review, in addition to the 12 years of intensive review of the company’s proposed copper and nickel mining project. This type of science-based process is essential to protecting our environment as we work to create good paying jobs.

Fact #4: We can create mining jobs AND protect the environment.

We have the brains and the science to create jobs and protect the environment. The simple fact, is we need strategic minerals to create the next generation of “green” technology.

• New hybrid cars contain more than 1 ton of iron, steel, copper, nickel, and nickel-based aluminum.
• Wind turbines contain hundreds of tons of steel and copper – and reduce our air pollution.
  • Every computer – television – light bulb – printer – iPad – contains iron ore and precious metals that we mine in Minnesota, and helps reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

We’ve got two choices on how we get these strategic minerals. We can import these minerals from foreign countries with terrible environmental standards and worker protections. Or we can mine them right here at home, where we control the process, creating good paying jobs, and follow the toughest environmental rules and regulations in the world. To me, the latter choice is just plain common sense.

Why the PolyMet Land Exchange (H.R.3115) is a Good Deal For All

Key Facts about H.R. 3115:

• This bill finalizes a long-awaited land exchange between the U.S. Forest Service and PolyMet Mining
• The land swap was already approved by the Obama administration’s Forest Service.
• Taxpayers get more lakeshore, more timber, more wild rice waters, and 2,000 acres of additional wetlands.   
• In return, the Forest Service is trading public lands already surrounded by old mining sites, with no public access. (PolyMet already owns the mining and mineral rights to the acres they would receive.)
• The land exchange enjoys overwhelming support from the Minnesota Congressional delegation, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, and communities, business leaders, civic groups, economic development organizations, unions and folks all across our region.
• H.R.3115 passed the House 309-99 with strong bipartisan support. 

For videos of Rep. Nolan speaking in support of the land exchange, click HERE.

For letters in support of the land exchange, click HERE.

For maps of the proposed Polymet mining site, click HERE.

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