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Outdoor Wisconsin host Dan Small welcomes you to his special on-line sanctuary. Join Dan as he applauds Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson's uncharacteristic support of the state's Mining Moratorium Bill. Is the governor's eagerness to protect the environment for real, or just politics as usual?  Awards Highlights
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Theme5/2/98 Mine Disaster in Spain an Omen?by Dan Small
©2000 Milwaukee Public Television
March 25, '98:
Wisconsin Needs More
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Anyone who thinks Gov. Tommy
G. Thompson isn't one clever dude has made a severe
miscalculation. For two months, the sporting, environmental
and Native American communities fretted and stewed,
wondering when/if the governor would ever sign the Mining
Moratorium Bill. Then he up and signs it on Earth Day in
Shawano, on the banks of the very river the mine this bill
aims to stop would destroy! The signing was a made-for-media
event, complete with 100 schoolchildren, environmentalists
and politicians. Beforehand, a group of Menominee Indians
spread tobacco -- a traditional offering -- on the river and
its banks. "If the mine isn't safe, it won't be built. It's
that simple and clear-cut," Thompson said. A perfect day for
the man who wants to be known as an "environmental"
governor. The same man who has long supported mining in this
state.
Those who fought for the moratorium
applauded Thompson's signing of the bill -- what else could
they do? But the fight isn't over yet. Now the focus must
turn to making sure the bill still has teeth when it gets
implemented. For starters, the Department of Natural
Resources should be free of political influence. Attendees
at the DNR spring hearings voted 2,797 to 130 in support of
the Conservation Congress advisory question to strip the
governor of the authority to appoint the DNR secretary.
Nearly every environmental and sportsmen's group in the
state has also weighed in in favor of that move. It's true
that George Meyer was appointed by the Natural Resources
Board before Gov. Thompson took that authority away, and
Thompson subsequently "appointed" Meyer to the position he
already held. Meyer has been a strong advocate for the
environment, but he opposed the moratorium, saying it did
nothing to strengthen environmental protection measures
already in place. In a press photo, a smiling Meyer stands a
few feet from the governor as he signs the bill. As strong
as he may be, Meyer's job would be easier if he answered to
the NRB instead of the governor. And remember, the governor
signed the mining moratorium only because of strong support
for it.
The Mining Moratorium Bill does not actually
ban new sulfide-ore mines. It requires a company seeking to
build a mine in Wisconsin to find a similar mine that has
been operating for 10 years without causing pollution and
one that has been closed for 10 years without causing
damage. The DNR must verify the information and grant or
deny the permit. A scary story about a mine disaster in
Spain just last week underscores just how critical it is to
pursue this fight to the bitter end. Here it is, verbatim,
as reported by the Grassroots Environmental Effectiveness
Network:
"SPANISH MINE DISASTER: REUTERS reported
4/27 a ruptured mine reservoir unleashed acid water and
toxic mud threatening Spain's 185,000-acre Donana National
Park, a United Nations World Heritage Site, in Andalucia.
Engineers built dykes to protect the marshlands, forests and
dunes of Donana, channeling the toxic flow into the
Guadiamar River. 'The consequences of this ecological
disaster are incalculable,' said Juan Carlos del Olmo of the
World Wildlife Fund/Adena. A farmer's group estimated 25,000
acres of crops were damaged. Conservation groups called the
incident a 'disaster foretold,' saying they had warned that
the mine's reservoir was leaking contaminants into nearby
rivers." Let's keep the pressure on the governor, the
legislature and the DNR to make sure this does not happen in
Wisconsin.