MONDAY: Mining and Minnesota’s Boundary Waters on WIZM’s La Crosse Talk PM

Two foreign entities are fighting to bring copper-nickel mining projects to Minnesota.

Controversy surrounds each in their own right — including, of course, President Donald Trump and his administration — but what both have in common is their environmental impact on the surrounding areas.

Iron mining, or sulfide mining, creates an acid that leaches heavy metals into surrounding waters.

While the PolyMet mining project will impact the St. Louis and Lake Superior watersheds, it’s the Twin Metals mine that may be an even bigger dilemma for Minnesotans and nature lovers.

That underground mine is on Birch Lake, near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Ely, Minn., which encompass more than a million acres of lakes and forest.

According to the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, “pollution from these mines will flow directly into the heart of the Boundary Waters. Even conservative models of pollution show that waterways would carry contaminants into the Wilderness. A single mine in this watershed will continually pollute the wilderness for at least 500 years.”

Former Minnesota DNR boss Tom Landwehr is now the executive director of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters.

Monday, he’ll be on La Crosse Talk PM to discuss mining, the Boundary Waters — mining the Boundary Waters — and, perhaps, compare that with some other projects happening in Wisconsin.

Tune in at 5:07 p.m. on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM or on the WIZM app (Apple or Android)