Billionaire Battles Native Americans Over Iron Ore Mine – by Christopher Helman (Forbes Magazine – September 9, 2013)

http://www.forbes.com/

Chris Cline became a billionaire through his investments in Illinois coal mines. His privately held Foresight Energy is rolling in profits while other coal companies are failing.

Now Cline hopes to repeat his fortune mining a different mineral, a form of iron ore called taconite, from a giant open pit mine in Wisconsin.

Coal has many detractors, so Cline is accustomed to being in the cross hairs of environmentalist groups. But because Cline’s coal mines are underground operations their impact on the immediate environment is obscured.

That wouldn’t be the case with his proposed taconite mine. Proposed by Gogebic Taconite, which Cline bought a few years ago, the mine would be built in the far northern reaches of Wisconsin near the town of Mellen, in an area crossed by rivers and streams that flow north into Lake Superior.

Wisconing Gov. Scott Walker is in favor of the mine, which is expected to generate 8 million tons a year of taconite and support 700 direct jobs. Naturally, the Sierra Club and Native American tribes are against it.

I read with great interest over the weekend this article about the controversy in USA Today. The story barely mentions Cline, focusing instead on the concerns of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The Chippewa are naturally concerned about pollution and environmental destruction that the mine could bring to the Bad River watershed, which is six miles from their reservation, which borders Lake Superior.

The tribe is worried that heavy metals will pollute streams, hurting walleye and sturgeon, potentially impacting drinking water, and also causing light pollution that would mar the darkness of the night sky.

The mining company of course says that it can develop the mine responsibly in keeping with federal and state laws. When the ore is exhausted in 35 years, the land would be reclaimed and turned into a park, with the vast pit mine turned into a lake.

For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2013/09/09/billionaire-battles-native-americans-over-iron-ore-mine/