The Department of Natural Resources is asking for $250,000 more from Gogebic Taconite for expenses. That’s from work done by DNR staff on the proposed open pit iron ore mine in the Penokee Hills.
Last July, GTAC sent the state $100,000 to the DNR to cover expenses for evaluation and monitoring of rock sampling. The costs, however, reached $150,000 by the end of the year. Now, DNR Materials Manager Ann Coakley says they’ve asked GTAC to send them another payment: this time, $250,000.
She doesn’t think they’ll mind.
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“They really haven’t said one way or another,” Coakley said. “I told them a couple of weeks back, ‘We’re going to get our summary of expenses to you. We’ve exceeded the $100,000.’ They said, ‘okay,’ and they have it now, and they haven’t said anything about it.”
The pot of money is not bottomless, though. Legislation passed last year caps the amount of money the state can bill GTAC at $2 million.
“Right now we’ll ask for the next $250,000, but if we ever get to a point where we hit the $2 million cap, then we can’t ask them for more money,” Coakley said. “But who’s to say we’re going to get to $2 million?”
Most of the expenses, almost $120,000, was to pay DNR staff salaries and benefits.
Coakley says about 30 of people have been working on the GTAC project.
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