Tyler Fork River Photo: Rebecca Kemble
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Walk to the Drill Site
In the Penokee Hills, East of Mellen, Wisconsin
Saturday, June 15th at 1:00 p.m.
Contact: Frank Koehn, Penokee Hills Education Project, 218-341-8822
Please join your friends and neighbors on a walk to the GTAC drill site in the Penokee Hills, June 15th, Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Exploratory drilling in the Penokee Hills, which is now underway, has been permitted by the DNR over specific objections from local citizens and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
This walk is an opportunity to safely observe what test drilling looks like, firsthand, and to see how it impacts a pristine landscape. The walk will take place on lands that are open to the public, and the Penokee Hills Education Project encourages all walkers to obey the law and practice non-violence. The walk is approximately three miles through fairly hilly terrain; be sure to bring your camera and bug spray! Persons of all ages are invited.
Directions: From Mellen, take Highway 77 east. Enter into Iron County and at approx. 8.75 miles from Mellen, turn right on Moore Park Road. Follow the road until you reach the “Road Closed” signs. Park on the RIGHT side of the road only.
The Penokee Hills are targeted by Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) for mountain top removal mining. This process would pulverize a 22-mile strip of the Penokee Hills and would release contaminants such as mercury, arsenic, other heavy metals, sulfates, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides into the air and water. The polluted water would flow throughout the watershed, into the Bad River, threatening 40% of the wetlands in the Lake Superior Basin and sensitive ecosystems essential for the survival of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior. The proposed mine would likely contaminate the drinking water for thousands of people living in Ashland and Bayfield Counties.
No taconite mine has ever operated without causing serious pollution.
The Penokee Hills Education Project was formed to educate the public about risks to the Bad River watershed and the Penokee Hills posed by GTAC’s mountaintop removal mine; to share relevant information about the impact of mining on our economy, health, and environment; and to connect with citizen-led groups locally, statewide, and nationally.
United In Defense of The Water 
I was raised in Mellen. I now live in Texas, but still consider Mellen my home. I would do this walk if I were up there, just to see it. It is truly God’s country up there, and I would hate to see the watershed destroyed. The local artesian wells provide the best tasting water anywhere! Please do not destroy our woods and water.
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