The proposed PolyMet project in Hoyt Lakes won a legal round Monday, when the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected environmental groups’ claim that state regulations for hard-rock mining are too vague. An appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court is possible, says Kevin Reuther with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. “We’re talking about a new kind of mining here for Minnesota… and we really need to get it right. And what we’ve seen is that these rules really aren’t up to snuff the way that D-N-R is interpreting them,” he says.
Nancy Norr with the group Jobs for Minnesotans responds the court ruling confirms the strength of Minnesota’s environmental review process. She says PolyMet will protect the environment and bring badly-needed jobs to northern Minnesota.