Hearing Actors
Actors in the Northmet Contested Case Hearing decided November 28, 2023.
6132.0100 DEFINITIONS
Minnesota Administrative Rules 6132.2200 REACTIVE MINE WASTE | SONAR
Click here to see documents from the Northmet Contested Case Hearing
| ALJ LaFave |
| Administrative Law Judge James E. LaFave (now retired) heard and decided the Contested Case Hearing re: the Northmet project. |
| Attorney General Keith Ellison |
| Ellison's office represents the DNR Hearing Team |
| Conservation Orgs |
| The actor "Conservation Orgs" is a catch-all to describe some of the environment groups opposing the Northmet project. They include: Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, Duluth for Clean Water, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Cloquet Valley State Forest, Save Lake Superior Association, and Save Our Sky Blue Waters. |
| DNR |
| The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources gets to decide what to do with ALJ Judge LaFave's decision against the proposed Northmet mine. Since the commissioner and her lawyer are involved in the case the agency had to appoint someone else to decide what to do with the decision. They appointed Grant Wilson, a former regional director, to make that decision. |
| DNR Hearing Team |
| The DNR Hearing Team is basically the Minnesota DNR defending the Permit to Mine it issued to Polymet (now NewRange) for its proposed Northmet sulfide mine. |
| Fond du Lac Band |
| The Fond du Lac Band Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, an Ojibwe band near Duluth, Minnesota, is one of the prime actors in the Northmet case, having been involved for a long time. |
| Grant Wilson, DNR |
| Grant Wilson is the person at the Minnesota DNR who is the "decider" over what happens with the verdict of the Administrative Law Judge against the proposed Northmet sulfide mine. He was formerly a district administrator with the agency before he was elevated to the "decider" role because the Commissioner and her chief lawyer were involved in the case. |
| MCEA |
| The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy has been challenging Northmet in court for more than a decade. They are leading the legal challenge to the project, along with WaterLegacy and the Fond du Lac Band Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. |
| MCEA / COS |
| "MCEA / COS" are communications from both MCEA & the Conservation Orgs |
| NewRange |
| NewRange is the current owner of the proposed Northmet sulfide mine. It is the successor to Polymet. It is an equal partnership of Glencore of Switzerland and Teck Resources of Canada. Courts still refer to the Northmet project as Polymet or Northmet. |
| PolyMet |
| Polymet is the former owner of the proposed Northmet sulfide mine. It evolved into NewRange as a 50/50 partnership between the Swiss mining giant Glencore and Teck Resources of Canada. |
| WaterLegacy |
| WaterLegacy has been leading the opposition to the proposed Northmet sulfide mine for more than 25 years. WaterLegacy, along with MCEA and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are the prime petitioners in the cases against Northmet. |