A proposed zinc and copper mine in northern Wisconsin may have run into trouble last Friday when the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Sokaogon Chippewa have the right to regulate water quality on their reservation downstream from the mine site. The court rejected arguments by Wisconsin that it alone had the authority to establish water quality standards and reaffirmed the power granted by Congress to the U.S. EPA to treat Indian tribes as states under the Clean Water Act. Tina Van Zile, vice chair for the Sokaogon, said it would be “extremely difficult” for the Nicolet Minerals Co. to meet the tribe’s standards. A spokesperson for the company disagreed.
