Just deal with the scary flood pit already!

Janna Goerdt of the Duluth News-Tribune reports today on the ongoing saga of the Canisteo Mine Pit near Bovey. The long abandoned mine pit has been filling with water for decades, causing what many residents and scientists fear will be a major flood risk. Others, including those at the DNR charged with monitoring the pit, believe there is a problem but not one that is as dire. In any event, the pit keeps filling with water, its walls keep deteriorating, and the whole thing is situated above Bovey.

Just fix this, DNR. Do it in 2008. It's time to stop admiring problems around here.

Canisteo pit still watery and topographically higher than Bovey

From Sunday's Grand Rapids Herald-Review: "DNR on Canisteo: Patience required to do it right"

Though it's discouraging to see foot-dragging on an issue like this, this story shows an improvement over an earlier statement by the DNR commissioner that the Canisteo Mine Pit -- a massive reservoir of water perched above the Iron Range town of Bovey -- presented "no danger" to the public. This is the kind of problem that's easy to ignore until there's a tragedy. For once, let's take care of something before the disaster instead of after.

Pawlenty's bonding vetoes bring mixed bag for Northern Minnesota

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced line-item vetoes on several items in the bonding bill Monday. This was a modest surprise for some in state political circles because it was believed that Pawlenty might veto the whole thing to force legislators to make the unpopular choices about which projects to cut. Instead, Pawlenty did the dirty work himself, but cut the bill down to $718 million -- well below the $825 he originally proposed (the legislature passed a $925 million bill). The Star Tribune has a write-up that lists some of the projects.

In northern Minnesota, bonding priorities enjoyed mixed results. Pawlenty is allowing the $28 million for Essar's Minnesota Steel infrastructure near Nashwauk. He also OK'd the funds to mitigate the flood threat at the Canisteo Pit near Bovey, two of DFL freshman Rep. Tom Anzelc's top 2008 goals. But the science classrooms at Mesabi Range Community and Technical College (indeed, upgrades at MNSCU colleges across the state) got the ax, as did improvements to the Hibbing Memorial Building and other smaller Range projects.

Duluth can finally rest easy as Pawlenty allowed the bonding funds for the DECC expansion. But proponents of light rail are outraged over the veto of a $70 million project to improve passenger rail in the metro area. St. Paul in particular took a big hit in its requested projects, something that some folks consider political retribution for the legislature's rebuke of Pawlenty's pet projects.

In any event local pols may have fodder for the upcoming election but by and large this seems to be a mixed bag for northern Minnesota. It could have been a lot better but it could have easily been much worse.

House bonding bill includes partial funds for key Range projects

The Minnesota House of Representatives' proposed bonding bill includes money for the Essar Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk and to abate the flood risk at the Canisteo Pit near Bovey. I hear that the governor is sticking to his guns about the creation of the Vermilion State Park I mentioned yesterday, however, which means that the funding that would be going to northern Minnesota will be spread thin.

One encouraging sign is that the House, Senate and Governor all recognize the need to fund the steel mill and Canisteo. Discouraging is the fact that none of them seem to fully fund the needs for these projects and that Iron Range leaders will have to track down other funding sources to get them done this year, probably from the rainy day fund at Iron Range Resources. Yes, that money is there for a reason, but it's one time regional money for a longrange project that will give a lot to the state as a whole. The steel mill alone will need another $30 million plus to make sure that the necessary infrastructure is in place for the company to being construction this spring.

Session battles cast eerie light

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) lashed out harshly after the legislature overrode his veto of the transportation bill. Today, the Senate is expected to oust Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau from her dual role as Transportation Secretary by denying her long-delayed confirmation. The Senate's bonding bill does not match the governor's (the House's bonding bill is expected soon).

It's not being said yet, but I wonder if this contentious environment, coupled with Pawlenty's possible national ambitions and the DFL legislature's hopes to win a veto-proof majority in the House next fall, could lead to a complete meltdown with no bonding bill and little else of note.

That's important because there are two vital Iron Range projects counting on bonding money -- the Essar Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk, which is permitted and waiting for the infrastructure money, and the dewatering of the Canisteo Pit, a flood risk located above Bovey.

The larger impasse might threaten these two generally agreed-upon items during this session.

Floods are bad, mmm-kay

I promise: Last bonding bill post for the week.

I forgot to mention an item yesterday. The Canisteo Mine Pit is still perched like a big, wet mountain lion over the town of Bovey on the Western Mesabi Range. However, Gov. Pawlenty did not include mitigating the problem in the bonding bill. I spoke with Tom Anzelc and he believes they'll need $4 million to drain the water elsewhere. There is $15 million for flood mitigation in Pawlenty's bonding bill, so Range can hope to get some of that along with other funding to fix the problem. Between the DNR, Mineland Reclamation and bonding, this must get done this year. I don't know that an Iron Range town has ever been destroyed by a flood and 2008 seems a rather stupid time to break that streak.

Freaking beobabs everywhere!

Who remembers "The Little Prince?" In this French children's book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a pilot meets an alien who looks like a little kid. This "Little Prince" lives on a tiny planet where all he does is pull up the baobab trees so they don't take root and choke his world. C'est une métaphore!

In Wednesday's Hibbing Daily Tribune, we learned that the Iron Range city of Hibbing is running out of water from its primary aquifer. Mining operations at Hibbing Taconite are draining away the ground water that feeds the source. Big news, if I didn't know that the PUC was warning about this almost TEN YEARS AGO! (Seriously, there were newspaper stories and everything).

This comes on the heels of several Range news stories that are far from "breaking." The Canisteo mine pit near Bovey is an impending flood risk. True, but that was predicted a decade ago and nothing was done. The rare cancer mesothelioma got headlines last year after the state health department withheld a statistical analysis showing how taconite miners were at higher risk of contracting the disease. Our TV screens were flooded with officials who were "shocked, just shocked" by the news, but this story has been around for a decade or more, too. Old timers will tell you they could sense there was something wrong in the taconite dust back in the '70s.

It's time for some foresight around here. Pull up these baobabs.

City water dipping toward critical level
By Mike Jennings, Editor,
Hibbing Daily Tribune

HIBBING — Water produced by a key well is falling toward critical levels, and officials at Hibbing’s Public Utilities are seeking expert help in determing what to do next.

Corey Lubovich, chief of utility operations, told the city’s utilities commission Tuesday that water being pumped form the Scranton well, the city’s most productive water source, had fallen by 100 gallons per minute over the previous 30 days, to a level of 565 gallons per minute.

“It’s still dropping,” Lubovich said.

Jim Kochevar, the utilities’ general manager, said his staff is searching for an engineering firm that can advise it on what to do. He said options include developing one or more new wells, including a test bore that has already been dug in the North Hibbing Industrial Park, or trying to rehabilitate the Scranton well.

The city also draws water from five smaller wells that stretch southward from First Ave. Road.

“I think that it’s important that we move on this as early as possible,” Kochevar said. “You know, if we bobble somewhere, that may get us into a circumstance of having to curtail water use.”

He told the commission that water production from the Scranton well should remain sufficient to meet normal needs for at least the next two or three months, but restrictions on some types of water use, such as car washing and lawn sprinkling, were possible by next summer.

The amount of water that can be pumped from the Scranton well on Hibbing’s north side depends on the depth of the water inside it. Utilities officials say water in the well is getting shallower because the Hibbing Taconite Co. has pumped water from a mine pit 200 yards away.

Kochevar said that by dewatering the mine pit to get at a vein of taconite, the company is also reducing the level of standing water in the aquifer-fed well. The well’s production is now down to about half its peak capacity, he said.

The danger looming above Bovey

Local media have reported on the dangers surrounding the eroding Canisteo Mine Pit by Bovey, where water levels in the pit now rest several feet above portions of the city of Bovey. A rapidly eroding wall of earth is all that prevents a major flood that would destroy much of the town and wash out the Iron Range's primary east/west highway. However, KARE 11 has done a solid job of reporting on the story for a statewide audience and explains the situation even more clearly for beginners. Have a look:

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=267232

Kudos to my friend Rep. Tom Anzelc for his work on this issue.