[NYTr] Peat Mining Threat to Minnesota Red Lake Nation Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 18:21:59 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by Alan L. Maki Peat mining that will destroy Red Lake Nation Dear friends and fellow activists; Time is of the essence! This is urgent! Please read the letter on the project that is now underway to mine the peat bog in the Pine Island State Forest. A rock mining operation is about to get underway in Marcie, Minnesota that will blast away this important rock formation in order to provide the "rip-rap" to make the "all season roads" into the peat bog. Hopefully Chairman Floyd Jourdain is getting the message from Red Lakers that do not like this backroom deal agreed to by corrupt businessmen, tribal politicians, and Minnesota politicians that has sacrificed the health and well-being together with the very existance of the Red Lake Nation for new casino ventures. All the money in the world can't pick mercury contamination from the waters of the Red Lake Nation. Former Chairman Roger Jourdain stood before many people at a hearing to oppose this project. Chairman Roger Jourdain asked for a glass of water; drank half the glass; then told the hearing--- "...My people require drinking water in order to survive...it is the peat bog that filters this water to make it safe to drink...without this supply of fresh water there will be no more Red Lake Nation..." Who orchestrated this back-room deal and signed off on it in the name of the Red Lake Nation? Anyone have the minutes of that Red Lake Nation Tribal Council meeting? The Grand Forks Herald - Feb 19, 2005 http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/editorial/10940353.htm Letters to the Editor Peat plant threatens land of sky-blue waters EVELETH, Minn. - In December, a plan to open an 800-acre peat moss mining operation was approved in the Big Falls, Minn., area. On completion, the peat plant will employee about 40 people at poverty wages. The jobs will be seasonal, as peat cannot be harvested from frozen ground. This project is going to drain the bog, then shred and vacuum the moss out of the bog. Ditches will be dug to drain off the bog. These ditches will carry mercury-laden water and will be channeled into the Big Fork River. Bogs in our environment here act as a filter to trap many things. Mercury is one of them. This project has been studied since the late 1980s. For years, there were many environmental reasons why it did not go through. Now, all of the sudden, all the issues for stopping this potentially disastrous environmental nightmare have been dropped, and the project given a green light. There are many rivers that flow out of this bog into other waterways in that area. Examples for northwestern Minnesotans who love to fish include Rainy Lake, Rainy River, Upper Red Lake, Lower Red Lake and so on. What impact will this operation have on those waterways, their fishing there and the people who live there? I have heard that there is a similar operation in Manitoba; that operation has changed the environment for at least 80 miles around. Jan Johnson * Search the NYTr Archives at: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ To subscribe or unsubscribe or change your settings via the web, visit: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org =================================================================