ISHPEMING,, MI— Cleveland Cliffs has withdrawn a permit application to expand the Tilden Mine’s rock stockpile by nearly 78 acres.
The withdrawal was recommended by Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy due to unresolved issues with tribal coordination and concerns, as well as cumulative impacts to the Escanaba River watershed.
The permit would have allowed Cliffs to fill in 77.9 acres of wetlands and 4,661 linear feet of streams with mine waste.
More than 500 comments were received during a public comment period that ended March 9. Concerns included insufficient biological
surveys to determine presence of protected species, the cumulative impact of recent wetland permits requested and received by Cleveland Cliffs totaling 144.2 acres of wetlands in the past five years, and the quality and watershed impacts of proposed mitigation sites.
Cliffs is expected to submit a new application for the expansion of the waste rock stockpiles at the Tilden Mine, but it is unclear at this point if wetland impacts will be avoided.
