Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

EAW contact: Dana Vanderbosch, (651) 297-1796 Media contact: Mike Rafferty, (651) 297-8294 Toll-free: (800) 657-3864 St. Paul, Minnesota -- The Northshore Mining Company has proposed to reactivate idled equipment at its taconite processing plant located at 10 Outer Drive, Silver Bay, Minn. (50 miles northeast of Duluth). The public comment period on the proposed project runs through June 22, 2005. In addition, a public information meeting and open house will be held on June 7, 2005, from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m., in the auditorium of the William Kelley High School, 137 Banks Blvd., Silver Bay, Minn. The idled equipment to be reactivated consists of a pelletizing furnace (known as Furnace 5), and taconite crushing and concentrating equipment. Although previously permitted, this equipment does require a new permit because it has been idle for many years. The proposed project includes: construction of conveyors and silos; an expansion of the wastewater treatment plant (located at the Milepost 7 tailings basin, four miles east of the Silver Bay facility); and modification to the amount of mineral fiber allowed in the wastewater. The WWTP will continue to discharge treated wastewater to the Beaver River, a tributary to Lake Superior. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has prepared an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) that describes potential impacts on land, water and air quality. In addition, the draft air emission permit and water permit (also called a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and State Disposal System or NPDES/SDS permit) for this Silver Bay facility and Milepost 7 tailings basin have been modified. These draft permits will be available for public comment through June 22, 2005. Citizens can review these documents and provide written comments to the MPCA during the 30-day comment period. The MPCA will use the comments to further evaluate the potential for significant environmental effects and decide if an Environmental Impact Statement (a more comprehensive environmental review) is needed. All comments on the draft EAW, draft air emission and draft water permits must be made in writing and submitted to the MPCA by 4:30 p.m. on June 22, 2005. The EAW contact person is Dana Vanderbosch at (651) 297-1796. Comments on the draft EAW should be mailed to her at: MPCA, 520 Lafayette Rd. N., St. Paul, Minn. 55155-4194, or by fax to (651) 297-2343. The air emission permit contact person is Jeff Peltola at (651) 296-8638. Comments on the draft air emission permit should be mailed to him at: MPCA, 520 Lafayette Rd. N., St. Paul, Minn. 55155-4194, or by fax to (651) 296-8717. The water permit contact person is Jeff Udd at (218) 723-4843. Comments on the draft water permit should be mailed to him at: MPCA, 525 Lake Ave. S., Suite 400, Duluth, Minn. 55802, or by fax to (218) 723-4727. Copies of the draft EAW and permit documents are available for review at: · MPCA St. Paul office, 520 Lafayette Rd. N., St.
· MPCA Duluth office, 525 Lake Avenue South, Suite 400
· MPCA Web site at/hot/northshore-mining.html
· Duluth Public Library, 520 W. Superior St.
· Silver Bay Public Library, 9 Davis Dr.
· Two Harbors Public Library, 320 Waterfront Dr.
For general information about the project, call Mike Rafferty at (651) 297-8294, or toll-free/TTY at (800) 657-3864.