A bill to clear the way for a new mine in northern Wisconsin will move up the legislative docket after the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee approved it on a 12-4 vote Monday. The measure now moves to the Senate and then the Assembly, and because Republicans control both houses, the bill is expected to pass. Democrats have vowed legal challenges.
Gogebic Taconite, owned by Cline Resources and Development Group of Florida, wants to construct a $1.5 billion iron ore mine in the Bad River watershed that would operate for at least 35 years. The effort to approve the mine has been contentious, with Democrats arguing that the bill needed more environmental safeguards and public input. Republicans disagreed, claiming safeguards and opportunities for public involvement already exist.
Not surprisingly, both sides are touting the results of new polls. The Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling found 62% of those surveyed in a February poll opposed the bill, while a Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce poll conducted by The Tarrance Group found exactly the opposite in February, with 62% in favor of iron mining reform, though that number had declined from 67% in October.
Gogebic claims the mine would create about 700 high-paying jobs, not including spinoff employment in other areas, such as hospitality and trucking. In December 2012, the counties affected, Ashland and Iron, had some of the state’s worst unemployment numbers, with 8% and 12.5% respectively (not seasonally adjusted), according to the Department of Workforce Development.
