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Editor:

I emailed Senator Tom Tiffany on Feb. 20 about my concerns over the mining bill. A week later (the day the Senate passed the bill 17-16), I received a reply from Senator Tiffany which stated, “My two goals in advancing this legislation are to ensure that Wisconsin’s high environmental standards are maintained and that an applicant has certainty.”

The next day, Tiffany did an interview with the Capital Times in Madison. He stated, “There are going to be some impacts to the environment above the iron ore body. If the law ends up in court, the judge needs to know it was the legislature’s intent to allow adverse (environmental) impacts. That way a judge can’t find fault if the environment is impacted.”

In other words, Tiffany and the mining company, Gogebic Taconite, wrote the legislation specifically to make lawsuits by the citizens of Wisconsin and other groups less likely to succeed-and to allow the mining company to damage the environment with impunity for itself and the state. (Read the complete article at http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/jessica_vanegeren/mining-bill-author-admits-it-will-cause-environmental-harm/article_c9679d4a-8299-11e2-b886-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2MK2cdliQ)

Tom Tiffany has lied to his constituents and to the rest of Wisconsin. If passed by the assembly and signed into law, this legislation will affect the entire state, anywhere that mining is a possibility-including Oneida County.
Any potential benefits of a mine pale in comparison to the environmental damage that will occur-and Tom Tiffany knows that. His representation of the Northwoods is a travesty.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Andrist, Rhinelander