Tag Archives: genocide

ACTION ALERT: Send Letters of Support to Stop Mining in the Penokees

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Photo: Rebecca Kemble

On August 21, 2014, the six tribes of Wisconsin’s Chippewa Federation will meet with the Environmental Protection Agency officials to urge them to stop mining activity in the Penokee Hills. Tribal leaders sent a letter last May requesting the meeting and asking the EPA to invoke a section of the Clean Water Act in order to prevent the devastation of a proposed 22-mile open pit mountaintop removal iron ore mine from destroying the Bad River watershed:

“CWA§404(c) authorizes the EPA to restrict, prohibit, deny, or withdraw the use of an area for the disposal of dredged or fill material, including mining wastes, when it is determined that discharge will have unacceptable adverse effects on fisheries, wildlife, shellfish beds, municipal water supplies, or recreational areas.”

We need your help in standing united in defense of the life-supporting waters of the Bad River Watershed. Let’s send a clear message to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in support of initiating the 404c Process.

Use this form to tell the EPA how mining discharge would affect you:

EPA Letter Campaign

Using a copy of the pre-addressed letter, please sign and add a brief statement based on your own experience that tells how you/your family/your business would be affected.

The entire stack of completed letters will be presented to the EPA on August 21, so please add your personal message, sign it, and either email your online version to:

CommDir@badriver-nsn.gov
(715) 682-7107 ext. 1531

Or mail hard copy to:
Mark Rolo
Bad River Legal Department
PO Box 39
Odanah, WI 54861.

We are asking that you include additional contact information so we can contact you for follow-up activities.

Here are a few points to help get you started:

• I am a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa…

• My family has lived/conducted spiritual practices/farmed/harvested wild rice/hunted/fished/hiked/in the Bad River Watershed area for — generations…

• I live (fish, hunt, gather, hike, bird watch, kayak, canoe…) in/my business is located in/ the area drained by the Bad River Watershed…

Mining waste discharge from GTAC’s proposed taconite mine in the Penokee Hills will disperse known harmful contaminants throughout the water-rich environment of the Bad River Watershed from the Bad River’s headwaters in the Penokee Range to its endpoints throughout the western Lake Superior Basin, thereby adversely affecting /the health and well-being of our human, plant and animal communities for years to come/ my community’s drinking water/the plants and animals I depend on for subsistence/the vitality of our fish and other aquatic species/our wild and unspoiled natural recreational areas/…

You can also find more info on the website protectpenokeehills.org.

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Top: The Penokee Hills now. Bottom: What the Penokee Hills would look like if a mine was allowed to be built.

 

80 Hikers Visit Mine Drill Site Guarded by Local Police

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Yesterday, approximately 80 hikers made the trek from LCO Harvest Camp up to the site of exploratory drilling taking place in the Penokee Hills. It was a peaceful event and hikers got to meet about 14 police officers from five different jurisdictions who were guarding GTAC, the mining corporation’s interests. There were no incidents, and hikers returned to Harvest Camp for some food and conversation. Photos: Ros Nelson

Peaceful hikers going to visit the drill site. Photo: Ros Nelson

Robert Kennedy Jr.: Lake Superior Needs Your Help #RFKvisitPenokeeHills

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Read the letter to Robert Kennedy Jr.
Public Google Doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PxZn2pYR5D9OOQQmqLfuSwgFXT5vJZBgy_GSHJ9_4D8/edit?usp=sharing

Supporting Tribal Councils and Organizations
Letter of Support Public Google Doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tgkOsSOlamLUU1lCOjXiNPnpUiYzesjqOqDoyAJdxP8/edit?usp=sharing

Join our efforts and send emails urging Robert Kennedy Jr. to help:
info1@waterkeeper.org

Tweet:
#RFKvisitPenokeeHills

button proof2May 5, 2013

Robert Kennedy Jr.
#RFKvisitPenokeeHills

Dear Mr. Kennedy:

We are writing to you today with the utmost urgency. Northern Wisconsin is being threatened with the installation of a 22-mile open pit mountaintop removal iron ore mine in the heart of the Bad River watershed. Despite overwhelming public outcry, the Tea Party Republican legislators in this state have sold Wisconsin out. The new mining law “legally” allows the mining companies to pollute the waters.

Evidence of the enormous potential for environmental and economic damages are plenty; but perhaps most disturbing of all is the hostile takeover of our state government by legislators who have abandon their oath to serve and protect the people and resources of this state. Despite overwhelming opposition to the new law and an iron mine in this area, legislators who are aligned the ALEC, Cline Mines and Koch Brothers have left us unprotected and vulnerable to a multinational corporation coming into our area, removing local controls and doing whatever they wish with our precious resources.

United in Defense of the Water was formed when elected officials from all levels of government from the Lake Superior basin traveled to Madison to give a press conference at the Capitol. They explained clearly why this mine would bring ruin to the land, water, environment and economy. They countered the propaganda being put out by Extreme Mining Advocates by explaining clearly why the mine will hurt us. All of this has been ignored.

waterislifehttp://www.unitedindefenseofthewater.com has all the documentation needed to understand the multi-level crisis we are engaged in right now in Wisconsin. Here you can see videos of the press conference, and many other links to proof that this mine will hurt us beyond recovery.

Your uncle President John Kennedy spoke at the Ashland Airport on September 24, 1963. On a tour to defend the natural resources of the country, he implored us to protect our natural resources:

The entire northern Great Lakes area, with its vast inland sea, its 27,000 lakes, and its thousands of streams is a central and significant part of the fresh water assets of this nation. We must act to preserve these assets. If we fail to act, then the pressures of a growing population and expanding economy may destroy our natural assets before our heirs can enjoy them.

Please come to northern Wisconsin, Mr. Kennedy. We need the Kennedy bump.

Urgently,
Citizens United in Defense of the Water
P.O. Box 153
La Pointe, WI 54850
715.209.5471
#RFKvisitPenokeeHills

Bulletproof Security guarding GTAC's test drill sites. Photo: Rob Ganson

Bulletproof Security guarding GTAC’s test drill sites. Photo: Rob Ganson

UPDATE: In the past few days, it has come to light that GTAC, the mining company, has hired a security firm known as BulletProof Security to patrol the site of the core sample drilling in the Penokee Hills. These camouflaged guards are carrying what appear to be semi-automatic machine guns. The entire community is shocked and afraid of this action on the part of the mining company.

Please Mr. Kennedy, we need help here!

Bear Witness

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Sen. Tom Tiffany, the bill's sponsor told a Cap Times reporter that the bill is intended to allow the mining company to pollute and not have to be held accountable. It also covers his butt.

Sen. Tom Tiffany, the bill’s sponsor, told a Cap Times reporter that the bill is intended to allow the mining company to pollute and not have to be held accountable. It also covers him and the legislators who moved this forward in the fact of overwhelming public opposition. Photo: Rebecca Kemble

Today, the Wisconsin State Assembly takes up AB1, the mirror imagine of SB1, the destructive mining bill that opens the door to corporations taking over our water, land and natural resources.

It is a sad day in Wisconsin, as the Tea Party Republicans have more than enough votes to collude their majority into passing into law a bill that was opposed by a majority of the public, violates Federal Treaty Law and the Public Trust Doctrine, and puts our citizens and resources at risk by allowing mining companies to legally pollute and not be held accountable, as well as turning over local control to the mining company.

Those of us standing up to protect Lake Superior need to remember, this is not over. Just because they pass unjust and immoral laws, does not mean they have won. Court challenges will arise, and we will continue to work tirelessly to protect our homes, land, water, air, wild rice and our neighbors.

Watch all the “debate” here.
http://www.wiseye.org/

Keep writing your legislators. Write to the press and demand they cover the truth. Continue to educate your friends and neighbors on the horrors of this bill. Reach out to those who support a mine, show them the hard evidence that this will destroy our area, as well as all the waters of the state.

No matter what, know that standing up for our water is our duty. Nature has rights, but only humans can protect them or destroy them.

Which side are YOU on?