After GTAC Leaves, Northern Communities Still Plan For Possibility Of Mining

People in northern Wisconsin are continuing to plan for the possibility of mining in Iron County.

Iron County Zoning Administrator Tom Bergman said he’s wrapping up work on a metallic mining ordinance. Bergman said it will receive a public hearing despite the company Gogebic Taconite’s decision to take a step back from constructing an iron mine in the area.

“It took away a little bit of the urgency, I think,” said Bergman. “But our goal was always one way or the other, whether the project went forward or not, we needed to have an ordinance on the books.”

Northwest Regional Planning Commission’s Jason Laumann said they’ll talk with the county about ways to plan for mining this summer when the county revises its comprehensive plan: “Some more broader discussions about the potential of future mining, and think about what mining impacts could be with the resource still in place.”

Laumann has been working with the county to pursue a mining impact analysis, which has been put on hold for now.