SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Today, the United States Departments of Agriculture and the Interior announced plans for a 20-year withdrawal of mineral leases of thousands of acres within the Superior National Forest, impacting the future of the proposed Twin Metals mine in northeastern Minnesota.
Rep. Rob Ecklund (DFL – International Falls) issued the following statement:
“A fair environmental and regulatory review process for the Twin Metals project should be allowed to proceed without undue delays or interference. The roadmap announced today is duplicative, unnecessary, and arbitrary, preventing us from even considering the project and its potential to boost our regional economy. Transitioning to more carbon-free energy sources to fight climate change will require vast resources of copper, nickel, platinum, and cobalt, which are materials bountifully available in northern Minnesota, the sourcing of which could create hundreds of skilled union jobs. Like any proposal of this magnitude, Twin Metals will be studied and scrutinized, along with a substantial opportunity for public input provided. Living in northern Minnesota, we’d expect nothing less.
“We should follow the law and the ultimate outcome should be based in science, not politics.”