WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Marathon County Board unanimously approved a mining ordinance on Tuesday night. The ordinance regulates mining throughout the county before a new law goes into effect July 1st that allows mining in Wisconsin.
County Board Supervisor John Robinson says he believes this ordinance passing is a good first step.
“What this does is lays out the framework or the foundation of which we’ll evaluate those permits for mining itself. It creates a process that’s understood,” said Robinson. “It also creates a number of funds that will be protective of the environment and address issues.”
Robinson went on to go into further detail about the funds that are created.
“It creates a groundwater trust fund to compensate people who have water draw downs or contaminated wells. It creates a local road reimbursement fund. It creates a property evaluation fund. And, it creates a political sub division fund to offset some of the costs associated with local and municipal government with a mine,” he said.
Robinson says this is just the start and that the board does have until July to make any other changes to the ordinance that they would like. Changes could be on the way as many supervisors did offer amendments to the ordinance.
A gold deposit that is known as the Easton Reef Deposit has received a lot of attention since the mining moratorium bill was passed.
The passing of the ordinance also created a metallic mining committee that will oversee all the applications the county gets for mining.
Robinson also says as applications come in to mine throughout the county, they will hold more public hearings on the issue.
