UpNorthica

Tensions over copper sulfide mining near the Boundary Waters are mounting, as the Duluth News Tribune reports. Over 100 companies have vied for exploratory drilling permits in the last 2 years; 70 have been granted them.

Cause for alarm? Uh, just maybe — since all the rivers flowing through all of the proposed drilling sites, flow into the BWCA, according to Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness:

“These exploratory drilling sites pose their own impacts, with access roads and drilling pads and tree cutting, possible contamination of the water,” she said. “But the larger issue is the very real likelihood that, if even only a few of these sites turn into mines, we’ll see acid drainage into the wilderness.”

An estimated 4,000 acres could potentially be affected over the next 20 years by exploratory drilling alone. And that estimate doesn’t include private or state lands to be affected.