MARQUETTE, MI – (Great Lakes Radio News) – The Environmental Protection Agency has withdrawn one of its formal objections to a controversial road project in Marquette County.
The EPA sent the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality a letter this week withdrawing an earlier objection about the assessment of possible alternatives to the County Road 595 project. The proposed road would serve to connect the Rio Tinto Eagle Mine with the Humboldt Mill.
According to the letter, the EPA still has a concern about the effects 595 would have on wetlands, streams and wildlife. The DEQ now has 30 days to either issue a state permit including mitigation plans addressing the EPA issues in a satisfactory manner or to deny the project.
If no action is taken by the DEQ, the authority over the federal permitting process switches from the EPA to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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