National Park Service White Paper Provides Another Reason to DENY THE PERMIT 12.06.13

Hi all,

I'm attaching the short white paper written by 2 of my former colleagues at the National Park Service. I had forgotten about it, but I was reminded when at the last Iron Co. Mining Impact Committee Leslie Kolesar asked questions about the potential effects on Lake Superior of a pollutant issuing from the Bad River Watershed. She also asked about the connection of the Bad and Kakagon Rivers. Larry Lynch basically said he thought the threat to Lake Superior would be minimal, that any pollutant would be diluted very quickly. He did not know about the connection between the Bad and Kakagon (but others do).

This white paper clearly shows a cohesive plume of sediment traveling from the Bad along the north shoreline past Long Island and towards the Apostle Islands. Another plume can be observed on the south shore of Long Island, which may have come from the Kakagon, or may have been the plume from the Bad wrapping around the tip of LI.

I think this white paper is important and wanted to share it. It shows the definite possibility of a pollutant having effects on Lake Superior, a national park unit, and Ashland's drinking water intake.  

Joan Elias Bad River Watershed Association