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Today's Question Blog
Cody Nelson

Should PolyMet build its proposed copper-nickel mine?

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20160303_polymet03_33
In this photo taken Feb. 10, 2016, the storage building stands empty at the closed LTV Steel taconite plant that is abandoned near Hoyt Lakes, Minn. is seen. The prospect remains of returning the site to life into Minnesota's first copper-nickel mine owned by PolyMet. The local economy never fully recovered after the mine and its processing plant shut down in 2000, leaving 1,400 workers unemployed.

PolyMet has been given the OK to move ahead with its controversial copper-nickel mine proposed in northeastern Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Thursday said a 3,000-plus page final environmental impact statement for the project is "adequate," so PolyMet can now start applying for permits to build the mine.

The mine isn't moving ahead with certainty, though. PolyMet first needs to secure $600 million in financing, which could prove difficult. Its largest owner, Glencore, lost $5 billion last year. Plus, metals prices have been declining recently.

The proposed mine has been a source of tension for years, writes MPR News' Dan Kraker:

For the past decade that process has pitted conservationists concerned about the potential for severe water pollution against Iron Range communities desperate for an economic jump-start.

Today's Question: Should PolyMet build its proposed copper-nickel mine?