In a victory for PolyMet Mining Corp., the state Court of Appeals said Tuesday that a plan to open Minnesota's first copper-nickel mine can move forward without a new environmental review.
The ruling resolves the first of several lawsuits filed by environmental groups since the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued PolyMet a set of permits last year to construct the $1 billion mine near Hoyt Lakes.
With federal and state permits in hand, those lawsuits are the last major legal hurdle PolyMet needs to clear before it can begin work on what it calls its NorthMet mine.
"The court's decision reaffirms the environmental review for NorthMet, which was the most comprehensive and lengthiest in the state's history," said Jon Cherry, PolyMet president and CEO.
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) and a handful of other environmental groups sued the DNR last spring, saying the permits it issued for the mine were based on a "bait-and-switch," and that PolyMet planned to build a mine that was much larger than the one reviewed by state regulators.
A financial document issued by Toronto-based PolyMet under Canadian securities law showed that the company's highest financial returns would come with a mine three times larger than the one described in its Minnesota permit. A mine three times larger would also more than double the company's and its investors' anticipated after-tax return, the document said.
Environmental groups asserted that expanding the mine is PolyMet's true intention and demanded that the DNR complete a supplemental review on the environmental impact of the larger mine. The DNR refused.
DNR officials have said that any expansion of the mine would have to go through another regulatory review, but until an expansion is actually proposed, it must base its permits on the project that PolyMet has submitted.
