SEP 16, 2014 PROGRAM:
PolyMet Plan – Is Sulfide Mining too Risky for Minnesota?
The PolyMet Company has proposed Minnesota’s first sulfide mine: an open-pit copper-nickel mine and tailings impoundment in the Lake Superior Basin. The PolyMet sulfide mine project is highly controversial. More than 55,000 citizens -- a vast majority opposing the project -- commented on the PolyMet plan released last winter.
Paula Maccabee, Advocacy Director and Counsel for non-profit WaterLegacy, will explain the track record of sulfide mining, the potential threats posed by the PolyMet sulfide mine project to clean water, human health and outdoor recreation and the costs of long-term pollution. Paula will explain the underlying science and the choices facing Minnesota. In light of recent sulfide mining pollution disasters in both Canada and Mexico this summer, it is even more important to learn more and determine whether sulfide mining is too risky for Minnesota.
Paula Maccabee is a nationally-recognized environmental lawyer with more than 33 years of public interest experience. A 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, and a former St. Paul Council member, Paula was one of Minnesota Lawyer’s 2010 “Attorneys of the Year,” and one of America’s “15 Jewish Women in Environmental Activism.” Her advocacy for the Gardens of Eagan organic farm is featured in the book, Turn Here Sweet Corn, which received a Minnesota Book Award in 2012. Paula serves as the Advocacy Director and Counsel for WaterLegacy, an award-winning non-profit organization founded to protect Minnesota’s water resources and the communities that rely on them.