After years of wrangling through public hearings, Minnesotans will finally have the chance to hear their questions about the Polymet copper-nickel mine project answered in court.
JT Haines is with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, and he says, despite the perception that all these issues have been talked about, this is the first time information will be presented in court, under oath, in public, and before a neutral judge, something Haines calls "really substantial and extremely important."
Although Haines says the process to hold the contested case hearings could take up to a year, a Ramsey County judge will hold a fact-finding hearing beginning next Tuesday into alleged irregularities into how the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency handled the water permit for the project.
More information about the MPCA hearing is available here.
And the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy has a new website up; it's called People vs. Polymet.
