Environmentalists say Kedzie, GOP’s wetland regulations paved way for mining bill
MADISON — Environmental activists say it’s no coincidence the bill co-authored last fall by Sen. Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn) to regulate wetlands directly—and adversely—affects the area where a proposed open-pit iron mine would be built in northern Wisconsin, according to a story in the Capital Times.
The story noted that in a public hearing last October, Kedzie denied Senate/Assembly Bill 24, which loosens guidelines on offsetting the destruction of wetlands, had any ties to mining.
Yet a significant portion of the bill’s language can be found in the latest Republican version of the mining bill, said spokespersons from the Wisconsin Wetlands Association.
The proposed $1.5 billion mine would sit on hundreds of acres of wetlands. Environmentalists say the waste created by an iron ore mine would need to be dumped nearby, and prior state law would have limited the circumstances of that dumping.
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