Emily, Minnesota Debates a Potential Mine

Transcript

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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.

ANCHOR: A northern community debates a potential mine. Then, license plate cameras are raising questions in West St Paul. And, a clearing in the road for driverless cars in another part of the state.

I'm Gracie J.

The West St. Paul Police Department has launched a pilot program using automated license plate cameras to help police track wanted vehicles. The devices capture license plates as cars drive by and check them against a state database. The city has installed four cameras, with six more on the way. While the police say the program is already showing results, but some residents have raised concerns about surveillance and data privacy. The department says it hopes to maintain strict control over how the data is used.

Next, residents are questioning the environmental impacts of a proposed mine in Northern Minnesota. AMPERS member station KAXE and KBXE News Director Chelsey Perkins talks with Victor Palomino about the controversy.

Victor Palomino: The community of Emily, Minnesota, located about 30 miles north of Brainerd, has spent nearly two decades hearing from companies interested in mining for manganese in the area.

Chelsey Perkins: In the 1940s and 50s, it was first discovered that this area had manganese deposits, and recent drilling has determined that the manganese is very rich and could have the potential to be one of the only sources of manganese in North America.

Victor Palomino: That's Ampers member station KAXE/KBXE News Director Chelsea Perkins. She explained that the CEO of the company North Star Manganese recently attended an Emily City Council meeting to present the findings of his latest studies.

Chelsey Perkins: He was there to say, "Hey, we had this study done. We have found out that this is economically viable, and basically we could make back our investment in less than two years, with the potential of nearly a quarter of a century of manganese production from this mine."

Victor Palomino: Manganese is a key material for electric battery production and other technologies, and for a small community like Emily, the discovery could be significant.

Chelsey Perkins: There's been many years of various mining companies exploring this area, and there's been promises made in the past to the people of Emily.

Victor Palomino: This history has helped prepare residents to better understand what to look for when companies present these kinds of promises.

Chelsey Perkins: There's a lot of concern about manganese levels rising in water wells in the community, and manganese is something that can impact people's health in a negative way if it's in high amounts in the water.

Victor Palomino: But one of the main questions raised at the city council meeting is, what are the next steps?

Chelsey Perkins: There are many, many, many more steps that would need to happen before a mine would open, and likely it's years down the road. Still, they're at the pre-feasibility stage, essentially like we need to do more research in order to even present whether this is truly feasible beyond just the economics of the situation.

Victor Palomino: Chelsea also mentioned that there needs to be more data collection discussions with trade unions and permits from the Department of Natural Resources before anything can move on. For now, the community is ready and organizing.

Chelsey Perkins: Emily City Council member Dan Brennan is part of a citizen group as well that's been looking into this for years. He spoke on behalf of some of these residents that were there sharing their concerns. The organization itself actually went forward with some baseline testing of water wells so that they can feel comfortable knowing we have this information about what our water is like now. So if they start to see rises in manganese in their water, they have something to point to as the baseline.

Victor Palomino: To listen to the full story and all the news from the north part of the state, you can—

Chelsey Perkins: Visit our website KAXE.org, where you can also stream our station.

Victor Palomino: For North Star Stories, I'm Victor Palomino.

ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.

Don't be shocked if the car next to you in Minneapolis is heading down the road without a driver. Waymo, the self-driving vehicle company, has begun early testing in the city as it explores launching a driverless ride service. The vehicles are loaded with sensors, cameras, and software, allowing them to operate without a human driver behind the wheel. Waymo says Minneapolis was selected in part for its harsh winter weather. GoMarti already offers driverless transit in Northern Minnesota.

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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.