Associated Press - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it won't work with Wisconsin to develop an environmental impact statement for Gogebic Taconite's potential iron mine near Mellen.
The project requires state and federal permission. A law Republicans passed this year streamlining state mining requirements called for state regulators to ask the corps to join them in developing one environmental impact statement.
Corps Regulatory Branch Chief Tamara Cameron declined the request in a Dec. 23 letter, saying the state and federal environmental review processes would likely differ and the corps lacks resources to prepare an EIS ahead of an actual mining application. Gogebic hasn't submitted such an application yet.
However, Cameron said the corps would work with the Department of Natural Resources to determine what would be required in an EIS.
