EPA recommends against PolyMet permit reissuing
TSX- and NYSE American-listed developer PolyMet Mining is facing a potential setback with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week recommending that the Army Corps of Engineers should not reissue the Clean Water Act Section 404 permit for its proposed NorthMet copper/nickel project, in north-eastern Minnesota.
The recommendation was made during hearings held by the Corps, after the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior’s Chippewa objected to the issuance of the permit, arguing that the proposed mine will affect the quality of its waters.
“As the NorthMet project is currently designed, there are no conditions that EPA can provide to the Corps that would ensure that the discharges from the CWA Section 404 permitted activities would comply with the Fond du Lac Band’s water quality requirements for its waters,” the EPA said.
The organisation stated that its assessment was based on an independent scientific review of the record, including PolyMet’s CWA Section 404 permit application and Minnesota’s water quality certification, as proposed at the time of its evaluation.
The hearing and the public comment period would end on Friday, after which the Corps would consider the information presented. The Corps would then decide if the CWA Section 404 permit would be issued as conditions, whether further conditions were required to comply with water quality requirements or whether the project could not permitted as currently proposed because adding conditions to the permit alone could not ensure that discharges from the permitted activities would achieve compliance with the state’s and band’s water quality requirements.
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