In what might be the toughest challenge yet for Canadian junior mining company Wolfden, two Maine tribes and environmental law groups filed a petition Wednesday to intervene in the Land Use Planning Commission’s review of Wolfden’s rezoning application.
Earthjustice, a public interest law group, filed the petition on behalf of the Penobscot Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Natural Resources Council of Maine. The Conservation Law Foundation is also named in the petition filing.
The petitioners want the LUPC to deny rezoning the area slated for the Pickett Mining Project because it threatens natural resources and Wabanaki Nation lands and waters, according to Earthjustice senior attorney Aaron Bloom, who filed the petition. This is Wolfden’s second stab at garnering Maine Land Use Planning Commission rezoning approval for a 374-acre parcel of the 7,135-acre mine project.
Earthjustice identified North Maine Woods and the Katahdin region as one of the most ecologically rich and important places in the country, according to Bloom.
“This seemed like something that was putting at risk an incredibly important place not only of ecological significance, but also cultural and historical significance to Maine’s Wabanaki Tribes, the Penobscot Nation and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians,” Bloom said.
Earthjustice has handled several cases challenging mines that would directly impact tribes throughout the country, so it was important for Earthjustice to be involved, Bloom added.
Wolfden’s first rezoning application in 2020 contained inconsistencies and missed deadlines, and Wolfden withdrew the application at the time. The company filed a second rezoning application in January. The LUPC deemed the second application complete and the formal hearings on the matter will begin this fall, according to the LUPC.
Intervenors have a formal role in the LUPC hearing, Bloom said. They can have expert witnesses weigh in on Wolfden arguments and cross examine company witnesses. They can submit briefs to the LUPC, he said.
The LUPC hearing is an adjudicatory hearing, which is like a trial. The LUPC is judge and jury, and witnesses for the various parties will testify, said Nick Bennett, staff scientist at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. The public may speak at evening events.
Wolfden could not be reached for comment on the filing.
The area immediately surrounding the proposed mining site is historically important for hunting and fishing for the Penobscot Tribe, and families still use the area. One place of concern is the West Branch of the Mattawamkeag River, a habitat for Atlantic salmon and a place the tribe holds sacred, said Dan Kusnierz, water resources program manager for the Penobscot Nation.
The West Branch empties into the Penobscot River, on which the tribe has sustenance fishing and hunting rights. The tribe also owns land southwest of the proposed mining site. It is trust land and an important area for fishing and hunting, ceremonial events, gathering plants and medicines, he said.
“This is smack dab in the middle of multiple pathways that could be potentially devastated with a mine,” Kusnierz said.
Wolfden CEO Ron Little shared with a group of potential investors that “there are no Indigenous rights in the state of Maine and that really streamlines the permitting process.”
The biggest risk is the effect of acid mine drainage on three state heritage fish waters next to the mine site, according to Bennett.
“There are two really bad things for salmon and trout connected to mining. One is acid — they do not tolerate low pH — and the other is metals, a byproduct of acid mine drainage,” Bennett said. “Both trout and salmon are very vulnerable to metals pollution and those are huge risks to the fishing resources in the area.”
Traditional guiding, hiking, fishing, hunting is a big part of the area’s economic activity and the mine threatens to change the character of the region permanently, Bennett added.
“The legacy of metallic mineral mining in Maine is one of empty promises of economic development, acid mine drainage polluting waters and killing fish, and multi-million dollar cleanups funded by taxpayers and not the fly-by-night mining companies like Wolfden,” said Sean Mahoney, vice-president and senior counsel at the Conservation Law Foundation, in a statement.
Mining threatens the tribes’ cultural connection to the land and endangers natural resources, Mahoney added.
If approved for rezoning, Wolfden’s application goes to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for review under the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act, one of the toughest mining laws in the United States.
“That would be a long process with many opportunities for interested parties to participate,” Bennett said.
