National Wildlife Federation v. Department of Environmental Quality

Appellants appeal by leave granted the circuit court’s order affirming the decision of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to grant a groundwater discharge permit to the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company in connection with the latter’s plan to develop an underground mine to extract nickel and copper from the sulfide ores beneath the headwaters of the Salmon Trout River in the Yellow Dog Plains in Marquette County. We affirm.

*372I. FACTS

In February 2006, Kennecott submitted applications to the DEQ for a nonferrous metallic mineral mining permit and a groundwater discharge permit. The DEQ…