City of Emily Hears Residents’ Concerns Over Potential Manganese Mine

The City of Emily held a city council meeting last night where they discussed a potential manganese mine that could be put in about a mile-and-a-half north of downtown Emily.

The manganese was first discovered in the area over 70 years ago, and there have been many attempts to extract the ore since then. But residents of the town are extremely hesitant to allow North Star Manganese, the company proposing the mine, to do any drilling in the area. At Wednesday’s meeting, they cited everything from alleged broken promises from previous mining companies to ensuring the water in their homes remains clean.

“When that fellow was talking, I felt like they [thought they] were doing us a favor by mining in our town. And it’s like, no, you’re not,” said Emily resident Gerry Swedell to the council. “When they have a problem and it’s going to contaminate our water, we’re going to be paying for it the rest of our lives.”

While an official date was not set for a follow-up meeting with the company, council members emphasized their desire for more meetings to occur as early as the first quarter of next year.