What started out as an attempt to prevent Canadian mega-corporation JD Irving from gutting Maine’s tough mining regulations and building a open pit copper and zinc mine on Bald Mountain is becoming a state-wide rallying cry to ban all metallic mining from the State of Maine.

    This is now the third attempt by Irving, in their unholy alliance with the wayward LePage administration and its oxymoronic “Department of Environmental Protection,” to connive to weaken Maine’s mining regulations.  It was Irving lobbyists who wrote the bill that the errant DEP is pushing to gut Maine's mining rules.

     Bald Mountain, in the North Maine Woods, is located at the pristine headwaters of the Fish and Aroostook Rivers.  It is forty miles northwest of Wood Prairie Family Farm.

    At Bald Mountain – and many places in Maine (see adjoining map) - are ancient volcanic deposits which contain high levels of sulfur (sometimes 40-52%), metals like copper, zinc and gold, plus contaminant heavy metals like arsenic.  In Maine’s wet climate it is impossible to prevent rain from leaching sulfuric acid and arsenic from tailing piles into Maine’s clean surface waters.  In recent decades, experienced mining companies investigated Bald Mountain and concluded they could not safely establish a mine because of the high sulfide content of the ore.  If only Irving were so wise or caring.
 
    Modern mining is very machine intensive and very much prone to failures.  What is becoming clear is that Mainers are increasingly unmovable and unwilling to sacrifice our clean environment so that a few out-of-state or out-of-country machine equipment operators gain a few jobs in a reckless venture which would forever spoil the land we call home.

     Jim made the 500-mile-round trip and traveled to Augusta on Monday to testify at the Legislative hearing.  Below are the comments he prepared.