Top state officials today authorized the D-N-R to sign a contract with Chippewa Capital Partners, which a bankruptcy judge authorized to re-start the stalled Essar Steel project in Nashwauk. D-N-R Commissioner Tom Landwehr says they’ve done substantial financial review of Virginia investor Tom Clarke and other business interests. Landwehr says Clark is “putting a lot of money on the line, so our expectation is that this is an individual who’s expanding into new areas of business, he has financial standing to be successful, and we’re gonna work as hard as we can to make him successful.”
Landwehr stresses that if Chippewa does not secure needed financing for the project by August 31st, mineral leases will revert to the state. Governor Mark Dayton says there will also be partial compensation for Iron Range contractors that Essar didn’t pay for their work on the project.