AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill to change the state’s mining laws received initial approval in the House and Senate on Thursday evening and was undergoing additional review in the House late Friday evening.
Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, said that the House vote was 80-65 in favor of LD 1853, An Act To Improve Environmental Oversight and Streamline Permitting for Mining in Maine. The Senate voted 21-14 in favor of the bill. The next step is for the bill to be reviewed in both chambers again.
Martin said Friday that he hoped the bill would pass both chambers again before the Legislature adjourned Friday evening. If so, it would head to Gov. Paul LePage.
Martin submitted the bill in early March, saying he was prompted to introduce it because of the increasing price of minerals and the potential for mining gold, silver, copper and zinc on Bald Mountain in Aroostook County.
Bald Mountain is northwest of Ashland and Portage in Martin’s House district. J.D. Irving owns the land with Prentiss & Carlisle.
Under the bill, the state Department of Environmental Protection would be in charge of permitting and regulating such operations. The required rulemaking by the DEP likely would not begin until at least January 2014.
Martin said reports indicate that mining development at Bald Mountain could directly create up to 300 jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs. There also would be an excise tax on the minerals there, so the result would be more than $600 million in employment income and more than $120 million in state and local taxes, he said.
Environmental and conservation groups maintained their stance that lakes, streams and groundwater could be poisoned near Bald Mountain if there is not adequate public scrutiny or debate.
Martin said earlier this week that several amendments were made to the bill to protect groundwater and ensure that the mining process is even more environmentally sound. The amendments also include requiring more documents and maps in permit requests and making provisions for the state treasurer to set aside a portion of excise tax revenues from mining operations to pay for overseeing mining activity.
At least SOMEONE is putting forth a comprehensive plan to provide some jobs somewhere in this state. I know, I know……the haters of John Martin will come out soon. But LePage’s hydro bill, and his cushy butt kissing of business have only helped one sector, the business one. There’s no guarantee, the snuggling up to businesses, reducing their costs are going to create jobs……Ronald Reagan proved that.
You must be mentally challenged.
Without a vibrant business climate, there are no jobs as the democrats have proven over the last few years.
@ MaineTownDrunk: You yourself may or may not be mentally challenged, but you are surely not quite up with the times. Most of the work at mines these days is done by giant machines doing the work of what it took hundreds of men to do in the old days. I don’t think we should be in such a hurry to let Irving in, because the payback could be small as opposed to how much they rip the area up. This issue should be studied more.
You make as little sense as Rusty does.
Lepage, you’re a smart man…….while I’d love to see additional jobs anywhere in Maine, this thing stinks at a high level of corruption. Remember that Martin has land/camps in the area. Not sure if they have sent educated people out there to study the potential resources, but be weary.
I’m sure there are alot of people who know John Martin has done alot of good things for the State of Maine. It’s like anything else, one person cannot satisfy everyone. He’s talking 300 plus jobs! In these tough times and the state our economy is in I believe this mining deal is nothing but a good thing! We’re not all “haters” of John Martin. The only thing I’m sorry for is living slightly out of his district which makes me unable to vote for him! Wonderful job John! It looks like the House and the Senate are in agreement with you. Hopefully, Governor LePage signs the bill pronto!
Nobody can say John Martin doesn’t devise a way to pay his bills even if it is on the backs of the honest taxpayers.
Why doesn’t the canadian government allow this company to mine in canada?
Once that sulfide-bearing rock oxidizes, it will continue to produce acid mine drainage for decades.
Who will pay to contain and reclaim that mess?
Not the mining interests who caused the problem.
yessah
Its Irvings land not the states Irving does not try to tall the state what they can do with their land.
Irving is a foreign corporation. They should be forced to post bond at a bare minimum to cover environmental damage. I’ve seen first hand what fracking can do to the environment in western PA.
Its still there land,federal&stare mining laws will apply
Their land but it’s our water and J.D.Irving has no need for water sheds in Maine as I’ve seen first hand what they’ve done with the wood harvesting,, some of the best brook trout fishing just totally ruined :-/
I read with great interest.Thanks for you sharing.