BACK 40 MINE
The Back 40 Mine is a proposed open-pit sulfide mine located in Menominee, Michigan. Open-pit sulfide mines release sulfuric acid into the environment and there is no known case of this type of mine near a water source that did not result in its contamination. With the proposed mine site siting only 150ft, half a football field, away from the Menominee River, this river as well as Lake Michigan are at high risk for pollution with the creation of this mine. Water pollution is not the only risk this mine would run. The proposed site for the mine would also include destroying land that is culturally, historically, and spiritually important to the Menominee Nation. The mine would destroy some of their sacred sites and burial mounds and violate their 1836 treaty.
There is another major concern surrounding the creation of this mine: where the waste goes afterwards. With open pit sulfide mines, the toxic waste is called "tailings". The tailings are often put into tailings dams that are either on-site or somewhere nearby. Tailings dams are very dangerous and prone to failure. Aquila Resources has proposed an Upstream tailings dam for the Back 40 project, which have even lower success rates than other tailings dams. One major example of an upstream tailings dam failure is the Brumadinho Dam Disaster in Brazil in January, 2019. This collapse resulted in the death of 270 people, released 4,700 olympic swimming pools worth of waste, and has so far cost $7 billion in liabilites.
There are many other organizations fighting this mine. Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River is a dedicated organization that the Spartan Sierra Club has been working closely with since 2019. This is a grassroots organization made entirely of volunteers located in Menominee, Michigan. Other notable organizations include the River Alliance of Madison, WI, Michigan Environmental Council of Lansing, MI, Clean Water Action Council of Green Bay, WI, and Mining Action Group/Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition.
There is another major concern surrounding the creation of this mine: where the waste goes afterwards. With open pit sulfide mines, the toxic waste is called "tailings". The tailings are often put into tailings dams that are either on-site or somewhere nearby. Tailings dams are very dangerous and prone to failure. Aquila Resources has proposed an Upstream tailings dam for the Back 40 project, which have even lower success rates than other tailings dams. One major example of an upstream tailings dam failure is the Brumadinho Dam Disaster in Brazil in January, 2019. This collapse resulted in the death of 270 people, released 4,700 olympic swimming pools worth of waste, and has so far cost $7 billion in liabilites.
There are many other organizations fighting this mine. Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River is a dedicated organization that the Spartan Sierra Club has been working closely with since 2019. This is a grassroots organization made entirely of volunteers located in Menominee, Michigan. Other notable organizations include the River Alliance of Madison, WI, Michigan Environmental Council of Lansing, MI, Clean Water Action Council of Green Bay, WI, and Mining Action Group/Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition.
LINE 3
Line 3 is a tar sands pipeline owned and run by the Canadian company Enbridge. This new pipeline is one of the biggest tar sands pipelines in the nation, even though the demand for tar sands has been in a steady decline. The pipeline runs through treaty territory for the Anishinaabe peoples, and poses a threat to their wild rice crop, which is significant to their culture and livelihood. One big organization fighting line 3 is Camp Migizi. They are an indigenous-led collective of front-line water protectors. Another organization is the Line 3 Defense Fund. This is the fundraising cause for SSC this semester!
