Damakant Jayshi
After an initial review of a gold drilling exploration permit from GreenLight Metals, Inc., Marathon County put the application on hold while seeking additional information and documents.
“There is additional information needed before the application can be reviewed and processed for the permit to be issued,” said Laurie Miskimins, Marathon County Conservation, Planning, and Zoning director, in a press release issued on Tuesday.
County officials say the exploration permit, if granted, would allow the company to explore the Easton Reef Deposit, which is “estimated to contain approximately 120,000 ounces of gold.”
Wisconsin had imposed a de facto moratorium on mining activities for iron and gold in the state since 1998. But Tom Tiffany, then a state senator representing Hazelhurst, announced his intention to repeal the law. Tiffany, who is now a U.S. Congressman representing Wisconsin’s 7th District, introduced the Mining for America Act in August 2017. The moratorium on mining in Wisconsin was lifted by Republican lawmakers later that year.
The decision to place the application on hold comes amid concerns expressed by some Marathon County residents over the potential impact in areas surrounding the potential mining sites, including fears over water contamination.
But officials from the Toronto-based GreenLight Metals said the incomplete application was by design, done in consultation with the county’s officials.
“Based on discussions with Marathon County, it was agreed that GreenLight would file an application that both parties knew would be incomplete – well before GreenLight would be filing its Notice of Intent and drill plan with the Wisconsin DNR (Department of Natural Resources),” a GreenLight spokesperson told Wausau Pilot & Review. “By intentionally filing an incomplete application, Marathon County Conservation Planning and Zoning Department felt that it would facilitate its engagement with both GreenLight and the DNR in the process of developing a drill plan that meets the needs of all the parties.”
He added the mining company is in touch with CPZ’s Shad Harvey who knew about the discussion on the application’s incomplete nature.
Harvey, Land Resources Manager at CPZ, told Wausau Pilot & Review that GreenLight “has supplied their application materials in line with the County’s General Code of Ordinances on metallic mining, which was designed to keep regulatory agencies such as Marathon County, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), etc. on the same page.”
Harvey shared the list of additional information and documents the county is seeking from the company: a copy of the application, approved WDNR license documentation and DNR’s approval for Notice of Intent as well as a plan of the site drawn to scale that includes location of existing or proposed wastewater treatment system, and the boundary of the affected parcels, including pipelines, railroads, streams, utilities, and wetlands on the proposed exploration site.
GreenLight did not provide a definitive deadline to submit its completed application, though officials there say they are working on it. But the company did not directly address concerns raised by a number of residents over potential environmental impacts, including contamination of air and groundwater.
“While the schedule isn’t set nor timeline finalized, GreenLight is in the process of developing the information and filing the paperwork required to obtain the necessary drill permits and authorizations for work to begin so in the long-term we can provide a significant economic boost to the region while protecting our environment and transitioning our country as it accelerates toward green, low-carbon clean energy,” said the President and CEO GreenLight Metals, Dan Colton.
The company did not spell out what safeguards are planned, nor did it share the company’s or its current principals’ experience of addressing any environmental concerns in the past.
When asked about the safeguards, CPZ’s Harvey said: “Marathon County is working closely with GreenLight Metals, Inc., the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and other regulatory partners to better understand what impacts the exploration may have on the environment.”
