STEPHENSON, MI (WTAQ) — A public hearing to determine if Aquila Resources should receive the final permit they need to operate the Back Forty Mine, is scheduled for next month.
The hearing will be held on January 23 at 6:00pm. The meeting will be at Stephenson High School.
A decison on issuing the wetland permit will need to be made by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and would have to be made by April 7th.
Aquila Resources already has several of the necessary permits.
Prior to the public hearing, a project design description was given.
“The applicant proposes to impact 28.4 acres of wetland and 550 linear feet of stream by constructing a polymetallic open-pit mine with above-ground tailings disposal and rock management facilities, onsite wastewater management facilities, and operations and storm-water management facilities. The project proposes to excavate approximately 980,820 cubic yards of material from 5.3 acres of wetland and place approximately 803,453 cubic yards of fill in 5.9 acres of wetland and 253 linear feet of stream channel. The project also proposes reductions in surface water inputs that would impact 17.2 acres of wetland and 297 linear feet of stream channel. The project also proposes the instillation of a 15-inch diameter outfall pipe within the 100-year floodplain of the Menominee River and an associated 11 cubic yards of riprap water ward of the ordinary high watermark of the Menominee River for the purpose of erosion control. As compensatory mitigation for the impacts to aquatic resources, the applicant is proposing the preservation of existing aquatic resources through placement of a conservation easement and perpetual long-term management of a 507.74 acre parcel of property in Lake Township. The parcel contains 294.24 acres of existing wetland, 7,864 linear feet of perennial stream, and 4,794 feet of Menominee River frontage. The project is located in T35N, R28W, Section 04, Lake Township, Menominee County, Michigan.”
Concerns of damage to nearby waterways have been raised by environmentalists.
