Critical Call to Action: Help Save the Boundary Waters From Sulfide-Ore Copper Mining Today
The Senate may vote on H.J. Res. 140 as soon as Wednesday April 15. "It's go time."
Like I said on Monday, now that Congress is back from its two-week Easter/Passover recess, it’s very likely they’ll start taking up new bills.
And indeed, there’s word from Capitol Hill tonight that the Senate may vote on H.J. Res. 140 tomorrow, Wednesday, April 15—using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to get a copper mine established near the Boundary Waters.
In a social media update, Executive Director of Save the Boundary Waters Ingrid Lyons, who’s currently in Washington, D.C. to meet with Senators, said that “we just got notice that there’s time being held on the floor tomorrow for the CRA resolution.”
“So it’s not official that it will be voted on [tomorrow], but it’s on the docket, it’s in the queue,” she said. “Which makes sense, there’s only two weeks left here on the CRA. But we’re getting official word that the vote could be as soon as tomorrow.”
The mere fact that this in the queue means that the Senate is very, very likely to vote on this bill within the next few days. “Continue to call your Senators,” Lyons said. “It’s go time.”
As a quick recap, the Congressional Review Act has never been used to undo an administrative mining moratorium on public lands. It’s an unprecedented move by congressional Republicans, which, if it succeeds, puts all other administrative withdrawals on public lands into play. It will threaten everything from mining and drilling bans to national monument management plans.
The mine that’s proposed in the Rainy River watershed will be run by Twin Metals, which is part of the Chilean copper mining multinational Antofagasta. They’ll ship the copper ore to China for processing, after which it’ll be sold on the global market. They’ll pay exactly zero dollars in royalties to do this. There’s absolutely no benefit for American taxpayers here.
On top of that, sulfide-ore copper mining is one of the most polluting activities humans have ever come up with. There’s never been a copper sulfide mine anywhere on Earth that hasn’t caused pollution. And this particular mine, because it’s near so much water, would with a 100% certainty produce sulfuric acid. Just to be clear: that’s battery acid.
It would destroy the pristine waters of the Boundary Waters—which hold 20% of all freshwater in the entire Forest Service system—for centuries. It would flow all the way down to and through Voyageurs National Park.
In fact, earlier today, two former superintendents of that national park spoke out against H.J. Res. 140. It’s worth reading their entire statement, but here’s what I think is the most important part:
“For Voyageurs, the threat is immediate and direct. Its waters are not isolated; they are part of a broader hydrological system. Pollution introduced anywhere in the watershed will travel—into the lakes, into the fish, and into the fabric of the park itself. The consequences would be profound: contaminated fisheries, degraded water quality, damaged wildlife habitat, and a diminished visitor experience. Once these waters are polluted, they cannot be fully restored. The loss would be permanent.”
Lyons update was confirmed by Ryan “Cal” Callaghan, President and CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.
“The vote to use the Congressional Review to rescind a 20-year mining moratorium in the Rainy River watershed, upstream of Boundary Waters Canoe Area, our most traveled wilderness area in the U.S., may hit the [Senate] floor as early as […] this week,” he said earlier today. “So you need to get off your butts.” This was later updated to clarify that the vote may happen tomorrow, as soon as 10 a.m. EST.
Again, there is no precedent for this. This is the precedent.
The Republicans either get away with it, or they don’t. They either allow forever-pollution in America’s most visited wilderness area, or they choose one of the greatest public lands in the United States and a robust recreation economy that supports thousands of jobs.
This issue is as black-and-white as it possibly gets.
So, if you read this tonight, pick up your phone and call your Senators—both of them, regardless of state or party, even if you’ve called them about this before. Email them. Flood their social media. If you read it on Wednesday morning, this is your assignment for the day. Don’t hesitate—call—it only takes a couple of minutes.
This is the most consequential public lands fight of the year so far. And it could not possibly be any more urgent.
“We need a surge of calls to your senators—right now,” Ingrid Lyons’s social media post said. “And all day tomorrow.”
Please take a minute tonight and tomorrow to contact your Senators and urge them to vote “no” on H.J. Res. 140. Tell them to protect America’s most visited, most family-friendly wilderness area from sulfuric acid pollution.
Call your Senators via the Senate switchboard number: (202) 224-3121
Find other contact information of your Senators here. (This will bring you to their website, which may or may not have a contact form, but definitely has their social media.)
Go and make some noise for the Boundary Waters.
Thanks for helping to protect our public lands and waters!
See you out there,
Bram
Image 1: Nate Ptacek / Save The Boundary Waters
Image 2: Save the Boundary Waters