Wausau Hosts Symposium On Mining And The Law

A state bar association symposium is being held today in Wausau on the impact of federal, state, local and tribal law on the mining industry.

The battles over frac sand mining and the Penokee Hills iron ore mine are being fought by Wisconsin lawyers. Today’s bar association meeting brings together some of the state’s top attorneys, including Chris Jaekels, who helps village, town and county governments get the best possible deal when they talk to mining companies.

“I don’t necessarily advise municipalities to try to stop mining dead in its tracks, because a David and Goliath problem arises,” says Jaekels. “They’re out-manned and outgunned if the effort is to try to stop it entirely.”

The Trempealeau County government tried to do just that, with a moratorium on new frac sand mining.

“Oftentimes a municipality will panic in some ways, and I think that’s what’s happening in Trempealeau – although I have every confidence over time that things will calm down,” says attorney Bill White, who represents industrial sand companies.

Betsy Lawton of Midwest Environmental Advocates says the Bad River Tribe has a lot of legal tools as a sovereign nation in its fight against the proposed Penokee Hills mine. “They have the same authority internally over their water as Wisconsin has for its state waters that are within its borders.”

About 40 lawyers are attending today’s bar association meeting, compared to more than 200 at a similar meeting two years ago.