PolyMet Prepares to Pay Millions for State Financial Assurance Plan
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DULUTH - Construction on the PolyMet mine in Hoyt Lakes isn't scheduled to start until February 2015, but the state is already asking for money to clean up after the job is done.
Tuesday, the PolyMet controversy took a trip to St. Paul where lawmakers are making sure the mine is taken care of after it’s retired.
The plan is called financial assurance, and it’s required by Minnesota state law for all mining companies to have bankruptcy-proof money to cover environmental clean-up costs once the mine is retired.
Minnesota legislators met Tuesday to figure out how much PolyMet will pay after they are done with the land, and how are they going to come up with the money.
"The important thing about the financial assurance is that it guarantees that no taxpayer money will be used to reclaim the project at the end of the mining life," explained PolyMet president, Jon Cherry.
According to PolyMet's environmental impact statement, it can cost up to $200 million to make a mine environmentally safe after it's retired.
According to PolyMet's president, the company expects to give the state $100 million in financial assurance.
PolyMet does not know exactly how much it will have to give the state, and won't know until the DNR issues the permits.
The DNR is comparing other state mining assurance plans to this project, and is working to keep the environment around the mine healthy.