First round of comments on PolyMet land exchange ends soon - TwinCities.com

"The U.S. Forest Service is accepting comments through Monday on a plan to receive five tracts of forest land totaling 6,772 acres in exchange for the land where Polymet Corp. wants to dig Minnesota's first copper mine"

Read more: First round of comments on PolyMet land exchange ends soon - TwinCities.com:

Mining pollution may be hurting Minn's wild rice | Minnesota Public Radio News

"High levels of sulfates released from Minnesota's mining industry are suspected of diminishing Minnesota's native wild rice beds. The state is reconsidering its current standard for sulfate in wild rice waters, but until recently it hasn't been enforcing the existing standard."

Read more: Mining pollution may be hurting Minn's wild rice | Minnesota Public Radio News:

Heavy-metal and antibiotic resistance in the bacterial flora of sediments of New York Bight.

"heavy-metal contamination of an ecosystem can result in a selection pressure for antibiotic resistance in bacteria in that system."

Applied and environmental microbiology, Vol. 36, No. 3. (September 1978), pp. 465-472. http://www.citeulike.org/user/HEIRS/article/8316782


Recommended:

Association of Heavy Metals and Antibiotic Resistance.

"Antibiotic resistant bacteria are, however, found in the environment as well. Intense use of antibiotics for livestock and other agricultural practices contributes to this pool of resistance. But not all cases of resistance are caused by direct use of antibiotics. Many metals, including mercury, lead, cadmium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and vanadium, are often correlated with antibiotic resistance."

Bowne, D. R. and Wohl, D. L. A Landscape Perspective on Antibiotic Resistance. Some citation information not available. http://www.citeulike.org/user/HEIRS/article/8316766

Evaluation of central auditory processing in adolescents exposed to metallic mercury.

"adolescents exposed to metallic mercury presented a lower performance on most of the auditory processing tests when compared to those who had no history of exposure to mercury. The main deficit found in the study was related to difficulty in distinguishing successive brief sounds."

Read more: CiteULike: [Evaluation of central auditory processing in adolescents exposed to metallic mercury.]:

CiteULike: Heavy metals, islet function and diabetes development.

"we summarize the evidence which suggests that some heavy metals may play an important role in diabetes mellitus as environmental risk factors"

Read more: CiteULike: Heavy metals, islet function and diabetes development.:

Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water: Part VI: Minnesota: This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land

"More than a quarter of a million people a year visit the legendary Boundary Waters Wilderness in Minnesota to hike, camp and canoe its million acres of untouched forests, ancient rocks and fresh water lakes."

Read more: Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water: Part VI: Minnesota: This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land:

Agricultural soils spiked with copper mine wastes and copper concentrate: Implications for copper bioavailability and bioaccumulation

"Results showed that smelter dust, tailing sand, and CuSO4 are more likely to be bioavailable and, thus, toxic to plants compared with smelter slag, concentrate, and ore at equivalent total copper concentrations"

CiteULike: Agricultural soils spiked with copper mine wastes and copper concentrate: Implications for copper bioavailability and bioaccumulation:

Clean-up continues in Mo “Lead Belt” « KMOX-AM

"For the last year, crews hired by the U-S EPA have been digging up yards in towns south of St. Louis."

Read more: Clean-up continues in Mo “Lead Belt” « KMOX-AM:

Shale Gas Drilling: Pros & Cons via 60 Minutes

Mine Waste Causes Altered Neurotransmission in Rodent Brains

Comment: So what are you gonna do with the people exposed?

"In mining waste-exposed animals, the combined action of metals may compromise the synthesis of dopamine, but efficient modifications of re-uptake and catabolism rates could maintain normal basal release rates. While this may be ok, during normal metabolic stress...higher demands could lead to lower dopamine levels necessary for normal neural brain function.

Effects of Oral Exposure to Mining Waste on in Vivo Dopamine Release from Rat Striatum:

Environmental Pollution in Water Becomes Air Pollution!

Environmental pollution in water becomes air pollution through evaporation....do not let anyone tell you different. So the pollutants released into water environments will eventually be dispersed into the air! To understand this in simple terms this author describes the process and health effects of a humidifier. He writes,

"Any particulate matter that is present in the water will become airborne along with the water. When the water evaporates, the particulate matter will settle as dust in the room."

In the case of mining, the "dust" settles on the flora and fauna which provide food for herbivores and omnivores that also eat plants and the fruits of plants.

Source: I need to use steam or ultrasonic evaporation?
http://steamunits.longseo.com/i-need-to-use-steam-or-ultrasonic-evaporation/

Assessing the nature of the combined effects of copper and zinc on estuarine infaunal communities.

"Elevated levels of copper and zinc in sediment have been shown to adversely affect estuarine infauna."

Read more: CiteULike: Assessing the nature of the combined effects of copper and zinc on estuarine infaunal communities.:

Suppression of statin effectiveness by copper and zinc in yeast and human cells.

"copper and zinc impair the ability of statin to reduce sterol biosynthesis, dietary intake of these metals could have clinical relevance for statin treatment in humans."

Read more: CiteULike: Suppression of statin effectiveness by copper and zinc in yeast and human cells.:

Kennecott Minerals fails to ammend permit: Unlawful utility installation | In The Woods: The Blog for Carl Sams & Jean Stoick

Kennecott Minerals’ mining permit does not authorize construction or installation of power lines along AAA road, according to “Unlawful Utility Installation: Kennecott Fails to Ammend Permit” from SaveTheWildUP.org."

Read more: Kennecott Minerals fails to ammend permit: Unlawful utility installation In The Woods: The Blog for Carl Sams & Jean Stoick: "

Fast-tracked projects, and pollution? | StarTribune.com

"A special team was set up to streamline mining and ethanol projects at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recently. But the team is approving permits so quickly that it's damaging Minnesota's air and water, say current and former scientists at the agency. According to the article, MPCA scientist with knowledge of some of the meetings said that their purpose is more to "manipulate the process" to avoid regulations and receive variances from normal pollution limits."

Fast-tracked projects, and pollution? | StarTribune.com:

Popping the PolyMet Pill |

Popping the PolyMet Pill |: "It’s amazing how easily politicians and media swallow the feel-good propaganda pill presented by powerful mining interests. Mining companies may have cornered the market on minerals, but who owns the monopoly on truth?"

Watch: Helicopter Looking for Sulfide Minerals Near Lake in Minnesota

Maps show drilling impact on state forests - News - The Times-Tribune

"series of topographic maps shows the impact of an estimated 54 Marcellus Shale well pads being drilled on 65,000 acres of the Tioga State Forest during the next five to 10 years"

Read more: Maps show drilling impact on state forests - News - The Times-Tribune:

EPA tells neighbors of NC mine's pollution threat - BusinessWeek

EPA tells neighbors of NC mine's pollution threat - BusinessWeek: "Neighbors of an abandoned Ashe County, N.C., copper mine are getting an update about what the government has done to keep hazardous substances from spreading in the water and keep a dam from collapsing."

Big Oil and Other Interest Groups Join McCain VP Palin's Lawsuit to Reverse Polar Bear Listing : TreeHugger

"American Petroleum Institute (gee, what a surprise) and several other industry groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers (yup, these guys) and the National Mining Association, are joining the Palin administration's efforts to overturn the polar bear listing, as the WaPo's Kari Lydersen reports"

Read more: Big Oil and Other Interest Groups Join McCain VP Palin's Lawsuit to Reverse Polar Bear Listing : TreeHugger:

Natural gas, unnatural risk: Hydrofracking endangers our water

"There is no higher priority for New York's state and federal legislators than to put the brakes on the idea of opening areas upstate to the controversial form of natural gas drilling called hydraulic fracturing - 'fracking,' for short."

Read more: Natural gas, unnatural risk: Hydrofracking endangers our water:

Inquirer Editorial: Drilling ban is too late | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/01/2010

"Gov. Rendell's order banning natural-gas drilling in 1.5 million acres of state forest sounded impressive until you drill below the surface."


Inquirer Editorial: Drilling ban is too late | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/01/2010: