Regulatory runaround shows need for reform
11:46 PM 10/29/03

The sale of the site proposed for the Crandon mine may end the long controversy over the project. But it does not take state government off the hook for a glaring failure: <

Despite 21 years of study, state regulators were unable to determine whether to permit or forbid the development of the mine. <

This week, the long effort to develop a zinc and copper mine near Crandon in northern Wisconsin appeared to end when the local owners of the mine development company sold their interest to two American Indian tribes that oppose the mine, the Sokaogon Chippewa of Mole Lake and the Forest County Potawatomi. <

But the outrageous runaround the state gave the mining proposal is just the sort of official behavior that not only undermines public confidence in government but also paints Wisconsin as hostile to businesses. <

To be sure, there are complications to the story. The mine development company had four successive owners over time; technology changed, plans were withdrawn and altered, new questions arose. Those are all facts that regulators and lawmakers had to cope with. But when the complications are used to justify 21 years without a decision, they are excuses. And that is inexcusable. <

Once rancor on both sides of the controversy has a chance to subside, the Legislature and Doyle administration ought to review what went wrong. Then they ought to adopt whatever reform is required to ensure that Wisconsin provides timely decisions to all permit applications, however controversial. <

Applications to develop a mine at the site have been pending with the state Department of Natural Resources at various times since 1982. The applications have generated heated opposition because of accusations that the mine would devastate the environment. <

Indeed, perhaps the mine's impact should have disqualified it from receiving the required permits. Or, perhaps the mine met the permit standards and should have been approved to create jobs in northern Wisconsin. <

We never learned the answer. Instead, the permit process simply dragged on and on, and in 1998, the Legislature passed a mining moratorium that set standards designed to delay or prevent the mine opening. <

Earlier this year, Gov. Jim Doyle muddied the track further by disbanding a scientific committee that was to report on how the proposed mine would affect the environment. <

All this created the impression that Wisconsin abused its regulatory process for the sake of politics. Officials couldn't find a way to reject the mine proposal, so to avoid a political firestorm, they simply made sure the process would go on endlessly. No wonder all the mine site owners gave up in frustration. <

This fiasco is yet another example showing why the Legislature should approve a measure (SB 246) that would require state agencies to set and meet deadlines for granting or denying permits to businesses. <

We need to fix this problem quickly. Another company has now offered a mining proposal to Iron and Ashland counties, and if the talks lead to an application for permits to develop the iron ore mine, Wisconsin this time should be ready to turn thumbs down or thumbs up in a timely fashion. That means less than 21 years.