MADISON, WI (AP)-- Tensions between state regulators and a company that wants to put an open pit iron mine in northern Wisconsin could be a signal of more conflict yet to come.
Gogebic Taconite mining company and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources got into a public dispute last week over how much regulatory authority remains in the agency's hands under a 2013 law that rolled back environmental restrictions to make mining easier.
The Wisconsin State Journal reports the dispute over what is allowed and what isn't under the untested mining law may be a preview of what is to come when the company seeks a permit for the mine.
Company spokesman Bob Seitz says rounds and rounds of questions from an overzealous DNR have delayed the process.
