Calls for county hearings on proposed mine drilling

Vox Pop

GreenLight Metals, a Canadian mining company doing business as GreenLight Wisconsin, is hoping to begin exploratory drilling at the Bend deposit after the ground freezes in November. The Bend, located about 20 miles northwest of Medford, contains about 4 million tons of mostly copper and gold. GreenLight has filed a Notice of Intent to Drill with the DNR.

The plans laid out in the notice of intent describe complicated and delicate procedures, one of which involves pumping cement into boreholes up to 1,350 feet deep. An enormous amount of cement would be necessary to fill them.

A typical Ready-mix cement truck weighs 40,000 pounds, with a carrying capacity of another 40,000 pounds, totaling a combined weight of 80,000 pounds. The table included in GreenLight’s plans shows that to fill their proposed 8 boreholes, 84,570 pounds of cement is needed. With an added 10% to cover losses such as cement spillage or seepage into groundwater voids, the total amount would be over 93,000 pounds, requiring almost two and a half truckloads of heavy cement. These truckloads would have to traverse delicate swampy terrain in order to reach the deposit. We can only imagine the destructive impact to these wetlands, being literally obliterated by the road construction necessary for such an operation.

Another hazard that may be present in deep exploration drilling is that of PFAS which may be present in the fluids used to drill and may be released during the process, thereby beginning a soil and water contamination cycle. Known as “forever chemicals” because they take so long to break down, PFAS can cause serious health problems such as cancer and birth defects, among others. Should the release of PFAS occur, the drinking water of the entire Taylor County would be contaminated.

Almost 500 miles of rivers and streams flow through Taylor County, with many recreational amenities. Sixty miles of these streams are ideal for fly fishing as their pristine waters have just the right environment for trout. Wetlands are essential for the health of Taylor County’s farmland and for sustaining the rich varieties of flora and fauna in the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest as well as those in the entire county. Many amenities are near the Bend deposit: the Ice Age Trail, the Mondeaux recreation area, the Yellow River which flows to the popular camping and fishing spot called Miller Dam, and classified trout streams Mink Creek and Camp 11 Creek. Contaminated water would affect all of these if leakage of harmful chemicals accurs in the drilling process.

Potentially destructive as it already may seem, GreenLight Metals exploratory drilling is only preliminary to what could be the worst yet to come if actual mining occurs. It is important to remember that metallic mining does not have a good track record, usually leaving the community in which the company operates with economic and pollution problems after it has left. To save Taylor County’s land and water, the concerns raised in the GreenLight Notice of Intent to Drill plans must be addressed. A call for a Taylor County Board hearing on GreenLight’s project would be a good start.

— Juliana Reimann, Madison