PolyMet Appeals Air Permit


On Tuesday, June 16, the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed to review a Minnesota Court of Appeals’ ruling regarding Poly- Met Mining’s NorthMet Project air permit. Back in March, the Court of Appeals remanded the permit to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to provide more information. PolyMet and the MPCA sought a review of the decision.

“We believe the MPCA in its permit appropriately accounted for the potential effects of the NorthMet Project on the airshed, and are pleased that the Supreme Court will hear the case,” President and CEO Jon Cherry said. “The court of appeals’ decision creates tremendous uncertainty for companies who want to invest in Minnesota and must seek permits from the state. This is an opportunity to remedy that situation.”

This is the second case in which the Supreme Court has granted review of the lower court’s ruling on Northmet Project permits. In April, the court granted the company’s and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) requests to review the Court of Appeals’ January 13 ruling, which remanded PolyMet’s Permit to Mine and two dam safety permits to the DNR for a contested case hearing. The court is expected to hear that case later this year.

PolyMet has successfully defended itself in six of the 11 state and federal cases challenging the project. The remaining five cases — three state and two federal — are in various stages of litigation or appeal, including the two cases now pending before the state Supreme Court.


As featured in Womp 2020 Vol 07 - www.womp-int.com