Wisconsin Town Bureaucrats Block Public Comment on Proposed Open Pit Mine

Kakagon/Bad River Sloughs - Photo Credit: Jim Meeker

Wisconsin municipal citizens and Native Americans concerned about the toxic destruction of habitat from proposed mines like Gogebic Taconite (GTac) are empowered by Wisconsin statute (293.33) to form local impact and joint committees in a display of local democracy at work.

Jeff Ehrhardt, Town of Morse and Bud Benter, Town of Anderson (chair and vice chair respectively of the Joint Mining Impact Committee Meeting) have different ideas about local democracy, seeing their function as running interference for GTac against local citizens concerned about the destruction of the Penokee Hills and the watersheds and wetlands that would be destroyed by the operation and construction of the proposed massive open pit mine.

Ehrhardt and Benter refused public questions from the floor of the April 9 Iron County, and Town of Morse (AAIM) Joint Mining Impact Committee meeting.

"So we hear the Town of Morse  no longer allows questions from the floor about the Penokee mountaintop removal. We are instructed to simply write our comments out and submit them to the mining company for them to answer at their leisure," writes Nick Vander Puy of Iron County in northern Wisconsin.

Vander Puy has more reason to complain than most as he is the target of a bizarre effort by Wisconsin State Sen. Tom Tiffany (Hazelhurst, Wisconsin) to have this environmental activist, Vander Puy arrested for voting on April 1, an effort knocked down as baseless and frivolous by Iron County attorney, Anthony Stella.

Vander Puy and a handful of activists are manning the Harvest Education Learning Project (HELP) in Iron County to educate the public, the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the massive destruction GTac's proposed mine would inflict upon the habitats and environment in Iron and Ashland counties in far-northern Wisconsin, including Lake Superior.

This river would be devastated by the proposed GTac mine in northern Wisconsin.
Photo by Erik Schyvinck at Citizens Concerned about the proposed Penokee Mine

DNR Holds Mine Hearing Under the Wrong State Statute, Says Atty

Updated - Turns out the rush to work on G-Tec's behalf has the DNR missing things like the rule of law and administrative procedure

The overwhelming opposition expressed by the public at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources hearing on August 15 up in Hurley, Wisconsin no doubt fell on deaf ears in the Scott Walker administration.

The mining company calls the shots in the Walker administration, not the Wisconsin public.

The DNR Public Hearing on G-Tac Bulk Sampling and pre-Application Notice drew over 100 people, almost all of whom voiced sentiments that the plans for the mine in Iron and Ashland counties are "crazy."

Now, a well-regarded Iron County attorney is contending the DNR held the hearing under the wrong state statute.

Anthony Stella's analysis is expected to be run in the afternoon on Monday, August 19 at The StellaReport. Stella's piece is now out.

Attorney Stella is all-concerned about that rule of law thing.

Reads Stella's letter is part:

I am writing to inform you that I believe that the DNR proceeded prematurely and without proper notice with regard to the August 15 bulk sampling hearing in Hurley. After studying the new legislation, it seems clear to me that a bulk sampling hearing cannot be held until after the DNR determines which, if any, approvals are required by GTAC. Of course, that process has not been completed yet, as GTAC still hasn’t supplied all necessary information requested as of this date. In the event that no approvals are ultimately required, THEN the DNR may proceed under Section 295.46, giving notice as it did for the August 15 hearing. If approvals are required, however, it must proceed under Section 295.45, and give the specific notices required therein. The DNR has told GTAC that, pending the receipt of more information, certain approvals may be required. ...

Heavily Armed Bulletproof Operated Illegally in Ashland County

Updated - The StellaReport has the story.

Bulletproof's "Tom Parrella had his young, battle-ready employees of the mindset that their lives and the lives of their families were under immediate threat, as if he were commanding a covert operation in Pakistan. He went so far as to instruct them -- in clear violation of Wisconsin's laws -- to remove their name tags and cover their faces," writes Stella.

That's right.

And it took a private citizen to find out what Stella is bringing to light.

Stella's determination that Iron County's District Attorney, Martin Lipske, won't do anything of substance RE Bulletproof's armed-camp response to conservationists bringing attention to the Gogebic Taconite Mine's environmental damage to Iron and Ashland counties, Lake Superior and the surrounding waters and habitats.

I still think it is going take an idiot from Bulletproof shooting someone before Scott Walker and his administration stop collaborating with Bulletproof (Marley and Phillis. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; August 9, 2013) and starts doing its job.

Iron County's Lipske, fresh off his two-year-plus suspension (1990-1993) of his license to practice law in Wisconsin (and Minnesota) for professional misconduct decided what better way to get back into the swing of law than to run for District Attorney of Iron County Wisconsin in 1994.

Lipske moved to Iron County from Superior, Wisconsin (Douglas County) at the urging of Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden, aka Madman.

Martin Lipske runs for DA in Iron County - From August 1994

Militia refuses to display name tags and credentials, defying state rules

Up north, new mining militia breaks rules again; this time by refusing to wear name tags and credentials, Anthony Stella reports.