Group to sue over taconite waste pits

by Bob Kelleher, Minnesota Public Radio

Duluth, Minn. — A coalition of conservation groups plans to file suit over two former taconite waste pits intended to hold waste from new copper-nickel mining.

The Center for Biological Diversity and two other groups have filed notice they will sue to stop pollutants from leaking at the old LTV pit near Hoyt Lakes and at the nearby Dunka Pit. Both pits are targeted as potential waste dumps for proposed copper-nickel mines.

Duluth attorney Marc Fink said ongoing pollution should be stopped first before more waste is piled on top of it because the basins of the pits are unlined.

"We feel the pollution is only going to get worse and more serious if we add copper nickel mining on top of the old taconite mining," Fink said.

He said the sites exceed permissible levels for things like ph, carbonate hardness, dissolved iron and boron. The suit names Cliffs Erie, LLC as defendant, and a spokesperson for parent company Cliffs Natural Resources declined to comment.