WaterLegacy

Lake Superior holds 10 percent of the world's unfrozen fresh surface water. And the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, along with the Superior National Forest, contains 20 percent of all the freshwater in the entire U.S. National Forest System.

However, these life-giving resources are threatened.

Minnesota’s first proposed sulfide mine, the PolyMet NorthMet copper-nickel mine, poses an imminent threat of centuries of pollution in Minnesota’s Lake Superior watershed, destruction of wild rice and other tribal resources, and contamination of downstream fish with toxic mercury. It would be the snowplow behind which other mines would follow.     

WaterLegacy was founded in 2009 to protect Minnesota’s water resources and the communities that rely on them. Since then, we’ve grown to over 10,000 members and supporters. WaterLegacy has secured important victories using our winning combination of respected scientific expertise, top-notch legal advocacy, and online and on-the-ground organizing to empower community voices in environmental and permitting processes     

We work to ensure that sulfide mining does not destroy water quality and wild rice, increase mercury contamination of fish, and impair human health and tribal resources.

So much has changed as a result of WaterLegacy’s work in partnership with Tribes and other allies. The potential to stop PolyMet has never been clearer. The fight isn’t over, but we’ve had some big wins recently:

1. The Minnesota Supreme Court has overturned the PolyMet permit to mine and ordered a contested case hearing on long-term control of acid mine drainage.
2. The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the PolyMet water pollution permit because the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) failed to evaluate impacts of contaminated seepage through groundwater to surface water.     
3. The U.S. EPA recommended that PolyMet’s federal wetlands destruction permit should be reversed, supporting the objection made by the Fond du Lac Band. WaterLegacy filed expert opinions and detailed testimony to support the Band and the EPA.     
4. The courts, the EPA, and the MPCA have finally agreed that Minnesota’s wild rice sulfate standard must be enforced under the Clean Water Act; 35 wild rice sulfate-impaired waters are now listed for restoration. We are making progress in increasing protection of wild rice.     
5. Standards for groundwater have been upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court, and the MPCA has been ordered to analyze pollution through groundwater to surface water under the Clean Water Act.     

You can learn more about WaterLegacy’s work at www.waterlegacy.org and sign up as a WaterLegacy supporter. And don’t forget to like and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Please support WaterLegacy to protect clean water, environmental justice, and a sustainable legacy for generations to come. Thank you!