A report from Nick Vander Puy, after returning from Harvest Camp established in the Penokee Hills by the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Tribe. The camp is open to all:

Wood turtles are listed as a “threatened” species. Photo: Nick Vander Puy

After we dropped off a chainsaw and some maple sugar cakes today at the Lac Courte Oreilles (LC0) conservation camp, we walked down to the rushing Tyler Forks river. Our brother Bill Heart was leading a group of birders who found a Wood Turtle.

Clambering through the brush, we came to a distinctive cedar on the banks of the churning river. We made an offering and went into the slip stream. Sitting on the bank it could have been the early 1800’s for all we knew.

When I returned to ordinary consciousness I knew the sound of the river is above all things. I was astounded and enraged again about the State of Wisconsin supporting the destruction of this place.

Wild leeks or onions, sometimes called ramps, growing in the Penokee Hills. Photo: Nick Vander Puy

When we walked back to camp we were greeted by leader Melvin Gaspar and his helpers. Everybody was working, cutting brush and firewood and getting some food on. Jeannie and Melvin returning from Flambeau with their kids dropped off six packages of muskie.

Gaspar told us the camp plans to harvest wild onions this week, host a naming ceremony and vision quest, pick mushrooms, berries and take a ceremonial deer at the time of the fireflies.

Next spring, there are plans for a large sugar bush. Gaspar keeps a log of all visitors, plant and animal sightings and harvest. Tomorrow we’ll cut some lodge-poles for wigwams.

Wigwam going up at Harvest Camp

Join us for a weekend celebration of the Penokees beginning Friday May 24 with a benefit for the Penokee Hills Education Project at the Bad River Casino, and continuing through Sunday May 26, 2013 with camping and feasting at Copper Falls, tours of the Harvest Camp, an outdoor concert in Upson and a picnic in downtown Mellen.

Here is a list of needs for the camp. Please consider donating when you come:
Bring shovels and rakes
Large vessel for cooking
Gas stoves or grills
paper products (towels, toilet paper)
Rain barrels
Garbage Cans
Can goods
Noodles, rice, wild rice and other non-perishable food items
Extra blankets
Plates and eating utensils
Snippers for blazing trails

DIRECTIONS to LCO Harvest Camp:

From Mellen, go south on 13. Turn east on 77 toward Hurley. Go east approx 7 miles. At about mile 5.5 you cross the Iron/Ashland county line, and about another mile greeted on the right side with a sign that says “Welcome to historic Iron mining district.” 77 bends around but right after that sign, on the right is Moore Park Road. Turn south on it, up hill. Camp Plummer as the Harvest Camp is called, is at the end of the long stretch on the right in a little cubby hole in the woods cut by the county, just before you take a full turn east and go down to Tyler Forks boat landing.

Spring at the Tyler Forks River. Photo: Bill Heart

GTac engineer Tim Myers, lobbyist Bob Seitz and CEO Bill Williams in front of the Iron County Board. Photo: Rebecca Kemble

With only a few days before a permit allowing GTAC to test drill in the Penokee Hills may likely be granted, it is critical that you call and/or email the Wisconsin DNR and ask her to deny the permit until a wise analysis of the process can be achieved.

Ann Coakley, Bureau Director
Ann.Coakley@wisconsin.gov
(608) 516-2492 or (715) 365-8957
Her area: Division of Air, Waste and Remediation & Redevelopment; Waste and Materials Management. Agency Spokesperson Statewide: Federal Coal Ash Rules and Mining

Here is some language you can adapt to your needs:
RE: Application by GTAC for test drilling permit (Exploration License)

We implore the DNR to initiate a stay of action and ask for a full and complete environmental analysis of the core sample drilling process before allowing this permit.

Please remember that environmental damage can be irreparable. We ask that you allow this process to be a thoughtful one which involves scientists and the citizenry. The water in the Penokee Hills is considered to be some of the purest in the world. It is a precious resource which is possible to damage for all time.

Given numerous assertions that the formations into which the boreholes will be drilled contain pyrite and phosphate, and these pollutants would contaminate the water used in drilling, returning toxic drilling wastewater where it could infiltrate into the water table, creates a substantial risk to the environment and to public health. (From the permit application: “”At the end of the drilling phase, the drill water will be allowed time to disperse into the glacial materials.” We assume this means the SOIL.)

Denying the permit is allowable under 294.44(4)(e), “the department shall deny an application for an exploration license if the department finds that, after the activities in the exploration plan and the reclamation plan have been completed, the exploration will have a substantial and irreparable adverse impact on the environment or present a substantial risk of injury to public health and welfare.”

Other issues which may have alarming consequences include the depth (over 1400 feet) of these test drill holes and how they might interact with the sources of local drinking water; the odd mix of seeds suggested for reclamation; and so on.

In the 10 days allowed for this permit to be approved or not approved, adequate time does not exist for a wise evaluation of the process.

Thank you kindly for taking these issues under consideration. We look forward to your reply.

Mountaintop removal in Kentucky. Photo: http://www.mountainroadshow.com

Air quality issues have not been heard much in the discussion of a mine in the Penokees.  Bob Kincaid of Appalachian Community Health Emergency and Vernon Holtom, executive director of Coal River Mountain Watch shared some of their insights.

******************************
Bob Kincaid

In addition to questions about water impacts, ask [the mining company] about the amount of ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO) explosives they plan to use. Ask if they know the size of the airborne particulates that will come from the blast. Ask what those incompletely combusted organic particulates contain. Ask whether there is any scientific research regarding the impacts of such particulates.

Answers: (1) Blasting on the scale they intend will require millions of pounds of ANFO explosives, the same stuff that blew up in West, Texas; (2) the ultra-fine particulates are less than 1/100th the diameter of a human hair, i.e. the size of a virus and the human body can’t stop something that small from entering the body; (3) the ultra-fine particulates will contain Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) toxins. They are LOADED with them; (4) the science is under the “Ache Science” tab at www.AcheAct.org. It shows a whole host of diseases coming from PAH toxins.

Be strong and ask these questions, for which they are utterly unprepared, and they will be rocked on their heels. They’re somewhat ready for water questions. When you talk about air quality issues, they’ll know you know their dirty little secret.
Appalachian Community Health Emergency
www.acheact.org
ACHEAct.org

==================================================
Vernon Haltom
Executive Director
Coal River Mountain Watch

Summary of surface mining impacts in Appalachia

Blasting and dust: mining companies use a mix of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (diesel), known together as ANFO, to blast the land near our homes.

-In addition to ruining our aquifers (and well water), cracking our foundations, and causing us stress and torment from the earthquake-like detonations, the dust clouds settle onto our property and lungs.

-Dust monitors near our homes have collected elevated levels of particulates too small for our lungs to remove, consisting of glassy silica and the blasting residue, including carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Lab studies have linked these pollutants to Cardiovascular Dysfunction.
http://acheact.org/2013/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/final-microcirculation-20121.pdf

-PAHs include some of the first carcinogens identified in cigarette smoke. Even on days when there is no blasting, a dusty haze lingers in our air on dry days. We have even been advised not to eat our garden vegetables because of contamination from the residue.

Health impacts: approximately 25 peer-reviewed health studies have indicated significantly elevated rates of deadly illnesses in communities exposed to surface mining, even after accounting for other contributing factors.

-Birth defects: babies born to mothers living in surface mining regions of Appalachia are 42% more likely to have birth defects than those in communities without surface mining. This is more than double the elevated risk of birth defects attributable to maternal smoking (18%). Ahern, M., M. Hendryx, J. Conley, E. Fedorko, A. Ducatman, and K. Zullig. (2011) “The association between mountaintop mining and birth defects among live births in central Appalachia, 1996–2003.”
http://www.crmw.net/resources/mtr-and-birth-defects.php

-Cancer: people in surface mining regions of Appalachia are significantly more likely to have cancer than people elsewhere. A 2011 survey indicated that residents of the Coal River Valley were more than twice as likely to have cancer as the residents of a county without surface mining. Hendryx, M., L. Wolfe, J. Luo, and B. Webb. (2011) “Self-Reported Cancer Rates in Two Rural Areas of West Virginia with and Without Mountaintop Coal Mining.”
http://www.crmw.net/resources/mtr-and-cancer.php

-Other studies demonstrate higher rates of mortality, heart disease, and a host of other deadly results. http://www.crmw.net/resources/health-impacts.php

This is only a short list, not including the water pollution from runoff, damage to roads from increased truck traffic, deforestation, and damage to local economies.