Elanne Palcich

This bill would require the selling of U.S. Forest Service land to a Canadian mining company for the purpose of strip mining. This special piece of legislation would circumvent parts of an environmental impact statement currently in process, thus bypassing public comment and tribal input, and eliminating review of habitat for the endangered lynx species.
The bill would serve to expedite the first ever metallic sulfide mine in Minnesota, a mining process that generates acid mine drainage and the leaching of heavy toxic metals into the environment. Minnesota's environment is especially at risk for this type of mining, since acid mine drainage is created when sulfur in the ores reacts with air and water to create sulfuric acid (H2SO4), and this mining would take place in wetlands.