The state Department of Natural Resources was inundated with comments during a public comment period about the proposed iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.
Mining company Gogebic Taconite continues preparing to apply for a mining permit.
DNR hydrogeologist Larry Lynch has an email inbox with 300 comments and a U.S. paper mailbox with another 40. He said they got lots of comments on what is called the "pre-mining permit notification."
“We got a couple thousand kind of mass emails — it was some kind of an organized effort where we got the same email, basically. But then we did get several hundred more individualized comments. So, we had pretty good feedback," he said.
He doesn’t know how many were for or against the mine yet. Lynch said the comments drew attention to special areas in the Penokee Hills. They also asked the DNR to be thorough and fair. Lynch said the next step is to meet with GTAC.
“We’ll have a series of meetings on groundwater, surface water, air, threatened endangered species, socio-economics, the full range of topics. And we have to identify what information they need to gather," he said.
He said this puts GTAC one step away from applying for a mining permit.
“At the same time, presumably, they would be finalizing project design. They would be designing a waste facility, for instance, [and] putting together various permit applications," he said.
Lynch expects it to be at least a year, probably much longer, before GTAC can apply for a mining permit. The public comment period ended last week.
