Note: Audio of Saturday’s mining forum at Northland College will be available on the WRNC website by Tuesday afternoon.

Northland College radio station 97.7 WRNC-LP examines the relationship between mining and theenvironment in January’s installment of Ecotopia. Ecotopia is a monthly radio program produced by WRNC that looks at a topic or series of subjects related to the environment. The program will air Monday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. on Wisconsin Public Radio stations 91.3 KUWS-FM in Superior and 90.9 WUWS-FM in Ashland. The program was originally scheduled to air at 9 a.m. Monday on WRNC, but it will now air at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, after Leaders News & Views with guest Washburn Mayor Ralph Brzezinski.

WRNC’s Danielle Kaeding talks with Al Gedicks, sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and author of “Resource Rebels: Native Challenges to Mining and Oil Corporations.” Gedicks discusses how a proposed mining bill in Wisconsin may impact the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Also, Gedicks touches on how mining legislation may change the state’s environmental standards as the bill is currently written. In addition, Tom Fitz, associate professor of geoscience at Northland College in Ashland, talks about the geology of the mineral deposit in the mining area proposed by Gogebic Taconite.

“If there is a mine, one of the ways that there could be environmental impact is from waste rock piles where the rock has been crushed up,” says Fitz. “If rainwater percolates through that and gets into shallow groundwater which discharges into surface water, there could be impacts from that.”

In addition, listeners will hear comments from Gogebic Taconite President Bill Williams on proposed mining legislation at a December public hearing courtesy of Wisconsin Eye. Williams talks about the company’s need for more regulatory certainty and GTAC’s intention to protect the environment if an iron mine is constructed.

“We will avoid every impact we can, minimizing those that we can’t and will mitigate those that can not be avoided at all,” said Williams at a December hearing before the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economy and Small Business. “We will not obtain a permit, nor will we be able to maintain a permit, that’s issued by the DNR, Army Corps of Engineers and EPA unless we can demonstrate that we will be able to avoid, minimize and mitigate all impacts.”

Ecotopia is a WRNC program produced in collaboration with Northland College and the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland. People may visit the WRNC website to hear extended interviews with guests and past programs at www.wrnclp.org.

Northland College radio station 97.7 WRNC examines how politics and policy play a role in water diversions from the Great Lakes with environmental journalist Peter Annin on the next episode of Ecotopia. Annin is the author of the Great Lakes Water Wars, a non-fiction book that chronicles the development of the Great Lakes Compact to prevent water diversions to areas outside the Great Lakes Basin.

Ecotopia is a monthly radio program produced by WRNC that looks at a topic or series of subjects related to the environment. The program will air Monday, Dec. 19, at 9 a.m. on 97.7 WRNC and again at 7 p.m. on Wisconsin Public Radio stations 91.3 KUWS in Superior and 90.9 WUWS in Ashland.

For December, WRNC’s Danielle Kaeding talks with Annin about the events that lead to the formation of the Great Lakes Compact, how the compact affects management of water resources in the Great Lakes Basin and factors influencing water diversions.

“There’s a lot of water tension internationally. According to the United Nations, more than one billion people lack access to clean drinking water everyday. Two million people die annually, mostly children, from unhealthy water conditions,” says Annin. “Domestically in the United States, the Great Lakes region is really surrounded by this arc of water tension…. It’s that arc of water tension that drives the Great Lakes water diversion debate.”

Annin was a guest speaker in the William P. Van Evera Endowed Lectureship series, another offering in the Northland College Community Connections series.

Also, WRNC once again features Lissa Radke, U.S. Coordinator of the Lake Superior Binational Forum housed on the Northland College campus. Radke discusses the development of a new aquatic invasives species prevention plan through the Forum.

“It’s always more expensive and more difficult to remove something that’s been introduced than it would be to prevent it from coming into an ecosystem in the first place. That’s why the Binational Program has written this complete prevention program,” says Radke. “We try to find ways that we can minimize the access points for moving these invasive species from one waterway to another.”

Ecotopia is a WRNC program produced in collaboration with Northland College and the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland. People may visit the WRNC website to hear extended interviews with guests and past programs at www.wrnclp.org.