MN Supreme Court Reverses Rejection of Permit for PolyMet Mine

The Minnesota Supreme Court has reversed an appeals court’s rejection of a critical air emissions permit for the planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine and sent the case back for further proceedings.

The court ruled Wednesday that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency was not required under federal law to investigate allegations of “sham permitting.” The high court overturned a decision by the Minnesota Court of Appeals last March to send the air permit for the $1 billion mine back to the regulators for further review.

PolyMet would be Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine. The appeals court will now consider other allegations.