The reclaimed Flambeau Mine near Ladysmith is polluting groundwater as well as the nearby waters of the Flambeau River, according to a legal action filed this week by a Wisconsin conservation group.

The Wisconsin Resources Protection Council and two anti-mining activists announced Thursday that they intend to file a lawsuit against the Flambeau Mining Company and the state Department of Natural Resources if pollution and monitoring issues are not addressed within 30 days. Joining the suit are Al Gedicks, WRPC executive director, and Laura Furtman, of Webster, a community in Burnett County in northwestern Wisconsin.

The Flambeau Mine, once the subject of extensive protests in Rusk County in Northern Wisconsin, operated from 1993 to 1997. The open pit metallic sulfide mine produced 181,000 tons of copper, 334,000 ounces of gold and 3.3 million ounces of silver. It was closed in 1997 and the 32-acre pit, which at one point was only 150 feet from the Flambeau River, was filled with mining waste.

But Glenn Stoddard, an environmental lawyer retained by the WRPC, said monitoring data obtained from the state through open records requests show surface water leaving the site exceeds state water quality standards. David Chambers, an expert in geophysics hired by the WRPC to analyze the data, said copper levels in water flowing into the Flambeau River are about seven times higher than Wisconsin standards.

Also, Stoddard said, groundwater on the reclaimed site has exceeded levels for copper set in the permit standards created by the DNR for the company.

Phillip Fauble, DNR mining program coordinator, said he was unaware of the possible lawsuit. He said the agency requires the mining company to sample water from the reclaimed mine site four times a year. Once a year, he said, the agency also collects samples and has them analyzed independently of the mine company samples.

“In the past,” Fauble said, “we’ve never cited them with being out of compliance.”

Jana Murphy, environmental and reclamation manager for Flambeau Mining Company, said the complaints “appear to be similar to past claims that have been and continue to be without merit.

“During mining operations and throughout the reclamation process, to today as a reclaimed site, the Flambeau Mine has adhered to every regulation and Wisconsin’s stringent mining laws. The project has a strong environmental record and continues that commitment today,” Murphy said.

Stoddard said the legal action is the first filed under a state mining law that allows citizens to file suits against the state and mining companies if mining laws are violated. He said the WRPC is asking for fines, remedial action and increased monitoring at the site and in the Flambeau River.

“At this point, we’re not in any mood to compromise,” Stoddard said.