The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has elected to extend the public comment period on a mining permit application amendment submitted by Aquila Resources for their Back Forty Mine. The decision comes following concerns from residents that the initial 30-day time frame that fell over the Christmas and New Year holiday, coupled with the technical glitches in opening the amendment application online, was inadequate to fully review and digest the 904-page document. The Public Comment deadline which had been set for yesterday has now been pushed back to 4:00 PM Central on Friday, February 15th. Those comments can be emailed to DEQ-Mining-Comments@michigan.gov (subject line should be “Back Forty Mining Permit Application”) or mailed to:
Back Forty Mining Permit Amendment
MDEQ-OGMD
1504 West Washington Street
Marquette, MI 49855
The Mining Permit Application Amendment documents can be found here:
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/DEQ_FTP_372266_7.pdf
Once in the site, select the “Mining” directory, then select the “Back Forty project.”
The amendment documents are:
R-MP Amendment Volume II EIA_Nov. 2018.pdf
R-MP Amendment Volume I_Nov. 2018.pdf
MDEQ also reports that Aquila has filed for a permit under the Dam Safety authority to build a tailings management facility and a contact water basin as part of the Back Forty project. Public comment is also being heard on this matter and you can find more information and submit comment on the work here.