To state Rep. Kevin Petersen –
I am sending my request to you through the County Post because you have not replied to my emails or to my written letters to you concerning Assenbly Bill 24 – I am hoping that you read the Post. I am now contacting you concerning the Assembly Mining Bill LBR 3520/1.
Why do you support a bill that requires the DNR to allow a mining company to take high volumes of water from rivers and lakes that are not located within their property even if those direct withdrawals will draw down those lakes, rivers, streams, and the ground water in the immediate area?
Why are you supporting a public hearing, dealing with the bill, in the city of Milwaukee rather than in Ashland or some other city in the northwestern portion of the state where the mine is going to be located?
Why do you support a bill that may provide a few jobs in the mining industry but will eliminate many more jobs in the service and tourism industries? Who is going to vacation in an area that has been degraded by open pit mines and where the lakes and rivers have been drained of their water?
Why do you support open pit mines rather than the pristine areas of the state that draw hundreds of vacationers each year? Rep. Petersen, you can have pristine areas or open pit mines but they cannot exist in the same space. The current mining law was developed by individuals from the mining industry and the scientific field so why do you support a new bill that has been written by mining lobbyists and in secret?
The natural resources and water ways of northwestern Wisconsin and all of Wisconsin need to be protected from the special interest groups that do not care to have any regulations placed on what and how they operate and do business. I am asking you to oppose all rollbacks to Wisconsin’s conservation protections.