The Latest: Walker signs bill lifting mining moratorium
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Latest on a Republican bill that would lift Wisconsin's moratorium on gold and silver mining (all times local):
1:25 p.m.
Gov. Scott Walker has signed a bill lifting Wisconsin's moratorium on gold and silver mining.
Walker voted to impose the moratorium when he was in the state Assembly in 1998. He signed the Republican legislation Monday anyway. His spokesman, Tom Evenson, has said Walker believes mining can be done without harming the environment.
Under current state law, sulfide mining applicants had to prove that similar mines have operated and been closed in North America without polluting.