@Midnight_Ride, yes it looks great, after 30 years it should. 14 years mining, 30 years before the final COC was issued.
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Mines/Projects.h...

Found this quote, thought it was fitting.
"Comparing Lake Wazee to a 22-mile open pit iron ore mine being proposed by a coal company with no experience in iron ore mining is like comparing a gravel pit to the Grand Canyon."
As long as we can rely on the regulators as well as the companies them self for doing their job and following regulations we should be just fine. "Even the DNR expects 90 percent of companies in a regulated industry to comply with rules on their own." Air management engineer for the DNR, Marty Sellers sent letters of noncompliance to 80-90 percent of the 12 sites he visited(wonder if He went to any of the other 56 active frac sand mines?). "They seem to put construction and production ahead of regulations."

Oh this is horrible - what?

http://www.co.jackson.wi.us/index.asp?Ty...
Wazee Lake: The man-made lake was formed after being used as a quarry for taconite mining between the mid-1960s through April 1983. The quarry produced about 850,000 tons of taconite pellets each year.

Put those computers and smart phones away hyprocrite liberals. They came from mining.

Because wislady, Democrat politicians live in it (sewage) and anything that helps create jobs is out of their wheelhouse.

Hint - Never argue sewage with RAF or wislady.

The only thing missing from the absurd logic used to justify the mine itself is the reasoning behind our Republican legislators intentionally ignoring environmental issues associated with the proposed mine. The logic goes like this: we must accept poisoning natural resources like our air and water and the destruction of thousands of acres of pristine wilderness or stop using products made with steel or iron. That’s an argument based on absolute nonsense. Once the Penokee Range is destroyed in can’t EVER be replaced. The long term environmental and tourism benefits provided by area hold significantly more value than the temporary profits of Gogebic Taconite. Gogebic claims they have no interest in getting around Wisconsin's mining laws and environmental protections, yet they have continued to work behind the scenes with Republican legislators to ELIMINATE those same laws and protections. By completely ignoring state, federal and environmental regulators and mining experts, Republicans have put the profits of Gogebic over the welfare of those who would actually be impacted by the mining operation. The Gogebic mine WILL POLLUTE the air and water meanwhile Republican legislators are voting to ensure Wisconsin Taxpayers pay for the inevitable clean up with their health AND their dollars.

Just what we need, more laws.

Wislady - What in the world does one thing have to with another. It is like saying why do we elect republican presidents after tricky dickey? Just obfuscation. Don't you ever get tired of being a clown? Thirdeye - if they can't build the mine without polluting it shouldn't be built. Pretty simple it seems to me. Maybe I could dig for gravel in your back yard, I'm sure it's there in most of this area.

Why are democrats still silent on the contamination by the Bad River Tribe? Or, is it acceptable to dump sewage into the lakes, just as in Milwaukee? They still are NOT in compliance.

And who represents the Bad River Tribe?

Attorney Working with Bad River Tribe Led MMSD During Sewage Dumps in Lake Michigan

http://mediatrackers.org/2013/02/27/atto...
http://mediatrackers.org/2013/02/27/atto...

The environmental angle put forth by the anti mine folks were dispelled and disproven during the last mining debate.
Why then are we rehashing the same arguments?
Stating that a mine is fine as long as it doesn't effect the environment is stopping the mine.

Bill - You people just couldn't be sillier. I think very few, just want to stop the mine. But there are a lot of unanswered questions. If this mine can be done without damaging the environment, I say mine. This bill doesn't prevent damage from being done. Therein lies one of the problems.

Wasp2491 says "lawsuits will hold this thing up for decades". That almost certainly will be tried by the folks who want this mine stopped. But they were no doubt going to do that even if Senator Cullen's modified bill was passed. Some of these folks have only one goal in mind, no mine. These legislative battles are just the first round. The next round will be in the courts. That was always going to happen no mater what the legislature does.

RAF - Did you read the article? I am not an attorney, but as the senator and most reasonable people understand, lawsuits will hold this thing up for decades, if not stop it forever. This being ceded territory the tribes have a great deal of power over what happens in this area also. Waste treatment plants are not pertinent to this case.

When the mining legislation did not pass in the last session the public uproar kept this issue alive. That same public uproar led to a new mining bill (the present one) being introduced.
So now, all of a sudden, there are polls that indicate the opposite? Just how does that work? Could the polls be rigged or wrong?
For example, in a post by Imbkay13@10:45pm the wording quoted, "...streamlining environmental regulations..." could influence the outcome of a poll.

wasp knowing that federal environmental law will not change, because the state can't trump fed law, please list any environmental disaster that the federal environmental laws will let happen at a mine in this state. If your claim turns out correct we should certainly get the EPA to look into this right away.

RAF - Once again your silly reply, misses the senators objection to the bill. You people are so busy backing every foolish thing this failing guv and legislature do, that you can't see reality. Without the tribes backing and with the reduced environmental standards this mine will probably not happen. But, it will give the guv and the repubs, an opportunity to place blame and whine. Woe is us, woe is us.

Dwight do you know the Indian tribe in the area of the proposed mine, has already done what you claim is a "possibility" with the new bill?

TroubleMaker - what? What is the reasoning behind you believing some wetlands need to be filled in, other than just to do it?

This is a poll taken in 10/2011 by WPRI.
"A minority of Wisconsinites (38 percent) favor streamlining environmental regulations in order to create more mining jobs in Northern Wisconsin while slightly more than half (51 percent) say environmental regulations should not be weakened. Eleven percent don’t know or declined to answer."
http://wpri.org/polls/Oct2011/poll103011...

Is there anything other than a recent push poll by the liberals that supports Senator Cullen's statement that, "The Senate majority (Wednesday)... ignored overwhelming public opinion"

Does Senator Cullen have any idea how many freaking acres of wetland we have in northern Wisconsin? Ever drive around up there? Nothing but swamp.

We should be paying the mining company to fill some of it, or at least be grateful. This is a case of using the positive environmental connotations associated with the term "wetlands" in a situation that doesn't make sense.

"The majority, he said, voted down an amendment that made it clear that the destruction of wetlands should be presumed unnecessary"

It wasn't that long ago that wetlands were called swamps. I have some swampland in Florida to sell you. Not interested? How about some wet land, a.k.a wetland? Sure, we need to protect the environment.

For those who wring their hands over the taconite mine this bill will enable here in Wisconsin, I have a question. Will you now stop buying products made with steel and iron so that the demand for taconite is reduced worldwide, or will you simply expect steel and iron makers to buy their raw materials elsewhere, (overseas where environmental standards are nearly non-existent, no doubt) turning a blind eye to the environmental damage occurring there. Here in the USA we have rather stringent environmental protections in place, preventing the kind of wholesale environmental damage that occurs in places such as China, Russia, India and other places that are eager to mine our taconite for us.

Since no one is willing to give up their cars, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, ranges, freezers and the like, the choice is clear. Either we prohibit "dirty" industries in our own backyard thereby leaving the quality of the world's environment in the hands of people who don't care about it, or we allow industries like this mine to operate here, under reasonable environmental controls not designed to drive the industries away as Senator Cullen seems intent on doing. Those who really are concerned about the environment, not just in our own backyards but throughout the world, should support Wisconsin's efforts to enable the mine to open with a reasonable expectation of profit at a price that is competitive with the overseas competition while ensuring that only minimal of environmental damage occurs.

Some folks say that any environmental damage is unacceptable. But I'd bet they don't walk to the next sit-in at the Capitol. (And remember, even bicycles and roller skates need steel too, as do sewing machines that make hiking boots and walking shoes. Most of those are made with foreign steel mined in dirty foreign mines.)

RAF, sorry, but this isn't an issue that only the left is against. I typically vote almost entire republican, and it's pretty easy for me to see that this mining bill has the potential to destroy a large part of our natural resources and significantly cripple the water in the area.

Could Wisconsin market the new mine as a popular tourist attraction? Could we sell small packets of low grade iron ore dust or tubes of sulfuric acid to tourists to take back home with them as souvenirs? Doesn't it seem that we could find some way of disposing of unwanted or poisonous wastes. Don't we have to find better ways of merchandising or selling our state? Do you think that mining and tourism can coexist together along with native tribes and businesses?

Obama disappoints me.

I was disappointed when he and his buddys fled the state a couple years ago. His disappointment is worthless to me.

Do the lemmings on the left not understand nothing the state passes, as law, can trump current federal environmental restrictions?

Do the same lemmings not understand the largest polluter in the state of Wisconsin is the Bad River Indian tribe? http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/b...

Does his disappointment mean he will be fleeing to the Clocktower Inn ?

this legislation will pave the way for unbridled pollution of the Bad River...how stupid are those who passed this legislation...I mean really? well, one thing is for sure, there will be plenty of environmental disaster clean up work in the years to come....

The Walker regime has set this state back 30 years. Hopefully he will lose in the next election- but, then... it will take years and years to repair the damage he's done. It's no wonder companies won't look at moving to Wisconsin. Who would?