Looking U.P.: Director of EGLE listens and learns in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

By a host of measures – distance, population, lifestyles, economy, climate, ecosystems, and more – the Upper Peninsula is far from Lansing. But like everywhere in Michigan, there’s common ground when it comes to protecting the natural environment and public health – the statewide mission of Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).

With a visit this month to EGLE’s Marquette District Office – farthest from the capital city – EGLE Director Phil Roos has now visited and met staff at each of the department’s nine district offices outside of its Lansing headquarters.

The Marquette office is EGLE’s home base for the entire U.P., a land of more than 36,000 square miles encompassing everything from mountains to lakeshores, mining to tourism, cities and villages to tribal communities.

Roos made the trip northward from Lansing to connect with EGLE staff and local leaders and partners around the U.P. and to recognize EGLE’s community investments. EGLE returns more than half of its budget to local communities in the form of grants and loans.

“Everything is big and small in the U.P.,” Roos said, explaining his impressions that the lands and waters are vast, as are many projects EGLE is involved in, but personally, most everyone knows each other and recognizes their interdependence. “Our people are part of the community.”

Here’s a brief travelogue from Director Roos:

 

EGLE Director Phil Roos, right, listens as an Eagle Mine representative explains the process of extracting nickel from ore at Humboldt Mill.

 

Nickel is a metal used in everything from stainless steel to electric vehicle (EV) batteries, and the nation’s entire domestic supply comes from one mine and mill in the U.P. – an Eagle Mine operation that employs about 470 people. Roos visited Eagle’s Humboldt Mill, which processes copper and nickel from ore mined a short distance away. He came away impressed by the ingenuity of the mill, a brownfield redevelopment that treats its wastewater onsite and is exploring a plan to reprocess waste material to extract a mineral called pyrrhotite.

“This operation has a significant role in the U.P. economy and the EV transition,” Roos said. “It’s an impressive team meeting challenges in a thoughtful way and working with EGLE to ensure the environment is protected.”

The director also visited Cleveland-Cliffs’ Tilden Mine near Ishpeming, where iron ore is mined and milled. With nearly 1,000 employees, Tilden Mine is one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore pellets for steelmaking.

 

EGLE District Supervisor Jay Parent shows EGLE Director Phil Roos the expanse of mining stamp sands spreading for miles along the Lake Superior shore near the Keweenaw Peninsula Village of Gay.

 

The consequences of long-ago mining with little thought for the environment are on stark display in the Gay stamp sands: millions of tons of gravelly copper mine tailings spreading along five miles of Lake Superior shoreline, as well as in other locations around the Keweenaw Peninsula. Copper residue in the sands is toxic to aquatic life.

The crushed rock left by mining that ended in the 1930s is also infiltrating the rocky offshore Buffalo Reef, a spawning ground vital to the lake’s whitefish population and tribal fishers.

“I had a visceral reaction that is going to stay with me for a long time,” Roos said of touring the shoreline sands by off-road vehicle on a cold and rainy day. “It’s hard to wrap your mind around the ways we sometimes acted and thought a hundred years ago.”

A task force including EGLE has approved a massive operation to transport the sands from the lake and shoreline to a dedicated inland landfill.

Roos applauded Parent and Marquette staff, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and partners for years of hard work toward a solution – albeit one that will take years and require huge investments.

“I came away wanting to really dedicate energy to making this happen,” Roos said. “We can’t leave it there for another generation.”

EGLE Director Phil Roos meets with staff at EGLE’s Marquette District Office.

 

Welcomed to the district office with an all-staff meeting and Q&A session, Roos said he was impressed by the team’s warmth, support, and directness in discussing what’s needed to tackle environmental challenges and fulfill EGLE’s mission in the U.P.

Parent said staff appreciated the director recognizing the importance of both environmental protection and a prosperous sustainable economy.

“I happen to believe that those things work together,” Roos said. “If we have strong environmental protections, we will attract investments.”

Roos also laid out his vision for Michigan and EGLE to maintain national leadership in environmental protection for the places where people live, work, and play, as well as EGLE’s role in supporting responsible economic and community development.

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) Natural Resources Department Director Evelyn Ravindran, right, addresses a meeting with EGLE representatives on the campus of Northern Michigan University. Clockwise from near left are EGLE District Supervisor Jay Parent, EGLE Director Phil Roos, EGLE Environmental Justice and Tribal Liaison Katie Lambeth, KBIC Water Resources Specialist Justin Woodruff, and KBIC Environmental Specialist and Environmental Health Section Lead Dione Price. 

 

Roos said it was a privilege to hear from representatives of the L’Anse-based Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in a productive meeting that lasted well beyond its scheduled hour.

The discussion covered many of the tribe’s environmental concerns and challenges, such as calling for more U.P. brownfield projects and being heard as a stakeholder in environmental policies. Roos congratulated the tribe on earning U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approval to set water quality standards for its reservation under the federal Clean Water Act.

“I come away with a spirit of partnership and collaboration and renewed commitment,” Roos said of the meeting, noting the importance of follow-up to address issues raised. “I hope it’s just the start of an ongoing dialog.”

Local officials and EGLE Director Phil Roos are all smiles amid construction at the Marquette Area Wastewater Treatment Facility.

 

Roos joined Marquette city officials to celebrate improvements underway at the Marquette Area Wastewater Treatment Facility, backed by a $12.5 million federal loan with $5.87 million in principal forgiveness from EGLE’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund. 

He said he was impressed with the plant team’s commitment to water quality and the collaboration between local government and EGLE. The plant’s location near the Lake Superior shore emphasized to Roos the stakes of properly treating wastewater to protect beneficial uses of state waters.

“All you have to do is see the lake across the street, and you’re reminded why this is important,” he said.

The U.P. Geological Repository’s vast collection of drill core samples from around the U.P. is a boon to researchers.

 

Housed in a large warehouse on the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base in Gwinn, the U.P. Geological Repository (UPGR) – a state “rock library” along with one housed at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo – offers a look deep into the earth. What seem like endless shelves hold catalogued cylindrical drill core samples from decades of mining and other exploration.

Roos said the scale of the collection (nearly 22,000 boxes and crates) and its place in scientific research are compelling.

“This is a tremendous resource for industry and academia,” he said, “and I see great potential to develop it further.”

The UPGR’s mission is to increase overall geological knowledge and inform decisions involving aspects of society ranging from agriculture to energy, minerals, drinking water, and remediation.

EGLE Director Roos checks emails on the flight back to Lansing.

 

While EGLE of course serves all residents of Michigan, the trip left Roos reflecting on the people and places that make the U.P. special.

“I spent three days up there with a team that was dedicated to make a difference,” he said. “We were there to listen more than tell.”

Roos said he was happy to see and learn about industries that create jobs and present opportunities to meet environmental challenges, as well as experience the vast scope of EGLE’s responsibilities and coverage area throughout the U.P. through hundreds of miles of travel and a packed itinerary.

“Boy, did we experience it,” he said.