Highest priority mine site in need
The tailings basin, which holds polluted water from decades of mining, is considered by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to be the state's highest priority mine site in need of a new environmental permit.
But their past permit expired in 1992.
But, under state law, Minntac has been able to continue operations at the basin without a renewed permit, since they applied for another one 6 months before it expired.
"And we've been trying to work with U.S. Steel to make progress, and to gain enough knowledge about the site to make it possible to fill in the blanks that we needed to draft a permit," said MPCA Mine Permit Division leader Ann Foss.
Foss says the fight now is over what the state, environmental advocacy groups, and Minntac views as reasonable regulations.
Foss says they've made progress over the years in controlling the basin's contaminants. But the EPA says there still are no clear deadlines to fix the basin's issues.
"Reasonable people will disagree," said Foss, over the phone Monday. "There are court cases on both sides of this issue. It's a complicated issue."
Paula Maccabee is an attorney and Advocacy Director for the environmental advocacy group WaterLegacy.
She says they're hoping the MPCA will listen to the EPA, and shoot for a mid–course correction.