Listening to the people

Sen. Slotkin visits Keweenaw

HOUGHTON - U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, visited Houghton Wednesday, where she met with local officials at the METC SmartZone. Among the topics of discussion was the global rush for critical minerals that has brought the issue of re-industrialization back to the Upper Peninsula, creating a delicate balance between job creation and environmental stewardship, according to Slotkin.

“There is certainly, obviously, very active conversation on bringing mining back across the U.P.,” Slotkin told the Daily Mining Gazette Wednesday. “There are very few places in the world who have our natural resources. And when you think about the monopoly that countries other than the United States have on some of those key critical minerals, to me, it only makes sense that we'd be talking about producing those ourselves.”

The Senatoe addressed environmental concerns of thousands of U.P. residents regarding the development of the Copperwood Mine Project in Gogebic County. She acknowledged the U.P.'s mining history, as well as the environmental track records of the companies from a century ago. She emphasized modern operations must not only meet state and federal mining regulations, but also satisfy stringent public safeguards.

“We all know that there's companies who were here 100 years ago who really affected the environment,” Slotkin said. “They really didn't clean up after themselves, kind of treated the environment as their dumping ground, and we're still dealing with the cleanup from some of those places. So it's not crazy that people have concerns. You can't dismiss for one minute people's environmental concerns.”

Slotkin balanced the nation's need for critical minerals to reduce dependence on foreign supplies with environmental concerns as well as economic expansion, pointing out they are not mutually exclusive.

“We have to figure out a way to put left and right limits on mining so that we can have good-paying jobs and healthy communities and a stunning environment,” she said. “Most Yoopers I know are like, ‘Look: I want good jobs. I want my kids to have opportunities here, but I also don't want to screw up the very places that make me live here in the first place.'”

The senator specifically noted that ongoing projects, including the controversial Copperwood Mine development in the western U.P., require significantly more direct engagement with local residents to build trust.

“Obviously, Copperwood's been a big discussion ever since I set foot in the U.P., even before that,” Slotkin said. “But I’ve got to tell you, there were communities who told me they haven't received any outreach. The companies looking to mine have got to do more than they did 50 years ago to bring the public along.”

Slotkin pointed to another unnamed U.P. mining operation she recently toured as a model for corporate-community relationships.

“They worked really hard to recover their relationships and the community has a very strong tie with those people working there,” she said. “I've encouraged anyone who is supportive of the mines… saying, ‘Hey, what are we going to do to reach out to the community and really make sure there's an open dialogue from the very beginning?’ Because I think that hasn't always happened, and that sets back projects we care about.”