Bye Bye Kennecott Mine, Booyah!!!

DEQ Withdraws Proposed Decision on Kennecott Mining Application! I hate to say "I told you so", but dammit I was right!

Is this the end of Kennecott's plans for Michigan or does this just slow them down a bit?

From the press release:

The Department of Environmental Quality announced today that it has withdrawn its proposed decision to approve a permit for the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company to conduct mining operations at the proposed Eagle Project Mine. The decision was made after discovering that two reports on the structural integrity of the mine were not properly made part of the public record or given a comprehensive technical review.

(Ahem, that means that someone buried the reports in the back of a file cabinet.)

As a result, there has been an insufficient opportunity for the entire mining team and DEQ management to review the additional technical reports and determine their significance from a technical, legal, and policy perspective.

(Someone hid information from the public and the management team? Is the buck being passed?)

“This department has committed itself to making this process as open and transparent as possible,” said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester. “In light of this information, we must allow the needed time for ourselves, as well as the public, to give it the appropriate review.”

("Honest folks, this REALLY isn't my fault.")

Director Chester also announced that the public hearings, scheduled for March 6-8 in Marquette and March 12 in Lansing, will be postponed and rescheduled at a later date.“I regret that canceling the hearings at this time may create an inconvenience for those who were planning to attend, but it is critical for us to gain a better understanding of the situation before we engage in that important part of this process,” added Director Chester.

(We haven't decided who to blame yet.)

In addition to a technical review of the reports, the department will be undertaking an extensive procedural review to determine how these documents were not immediately given the proper consideration and to ensure that there is a complete public record of information related to the mining proposal and its review. During this review, affected staff will be reassigned to other projects.

Someone really fucked-up, but affected staff will be reassigned? Does this mean that the people who weren't doing their job are being moved to another project? No one is getting fired? I suggest that they be reassigned to a rowboat 5 miles offshore.