A group is forming to encourage voters this fall to vote 'no' on a referendum question about mining in the Oneida county town of Lynne.
With the recent change in Wisconsin's mining laws, and public opposition to mining at hearings concerning those changes, the county board opted to put the question to voters.
Pete Zambon is part of a citizen's group, "Protect The Willow", recently formed to get voters to say no to mining here...
"...We're a non-profit group looking to ensure that the Lynne deposit, which is near the Willow Flowage, does not become open to mining..."
The Lynne sulfide ore body has drawn the attention of outside mining interests dating back to the 1990's. The deposit is on county forest land.
Zambon says the group wants the public to know the risks to the Willow Flowage...
"...The deposit is located underneath a glacial aquifer, which means there is a about 50 feet of wetland soils laying on top of this deposit of bedrock. If we were to open it up to mining, there would be an extremely high risk of these sulfide minerals contaminating the waterways and eventually leaking into the Willow Flowage and the Wisconsin River...."
The non-binding referendum gives advice to the county board whether the public favors opening a mine. Zambon says more information is available at the Facebook group "Protect The Willow" and a website www.protectthewillow.org
