A Ramsey county District Court judge has found that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) did not engage in any procedural irregularities in connection with the processing of the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit for the NorthMet copper/nickel/precious metals project, says dual -listed PolyMet Mining.
In his decision, Judge John Guthmann rejected the allegations that MPCA engaged in a systematic effort to keep evidence out of the administrative record. Those allegations had been made by the relators Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, WaterLegacy, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.
Guthmann made his findings after presiding over a seven-day hearing in St. Paul in January and briefing from the parties.