2 more lawsuits challenge proposed mine near wilderness area
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Environmental groups filed two more lawsuits Monday challenging the Interior Department's decision to reinstate the federal mineral rights leases for the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota.
One of the lawsuits was filed by three national groups: The Wilderness Society, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Izaak Walton League of America. The other was filed by the Minneapolis-based Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. They follow a similar lawsuit filed Friday by nine businesses that rely on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, plus Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness. All three were filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.