"Wisconsin Tribe Files Intent To Sue Over Clean Water Act Neglect"

"The Menominee say EPA, Army Corps have ignored their duties in protecting the tribe's namesake river "

"The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin gave the feds notice of intent to sue over the alleged failure to protect the water quality of the tribe's namesake river.

The 60-day notice, sent to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers yesterday, is in response to a proposed open pit mine on the banks of the Menominee River. The mine, dubbed the Back Forty, is a proposed 83-acre open pit gold, zinc and copper mine in the southwestern corner of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA "are in violation of their mandatory duties under the Clean Water Act … due to their failure to exercise jurisdiction and regulatory authority over navigable waters of the United States—the Menominee River and adjacent wetlands—that are not delegable to the State of Michigan," according to the letter from the tribe. Nonprofit environmental legal organization Earthjustice is representing the Menominee."

Brian Bienkowski reports for Environmental Health News November 7, 2017.