The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe in Wisconsin will be able to set and enforce water quality standards after winning approval from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The treatment as state designation helps the tribe fight a proposed iron ore mine. The tribe is worried that the development will harm wild rice that grows in waters on the reservation.

“Our water quality standards are our Nation’s proud proclamation of how we value our waterways and wetlands. From just north of the Penokee Mountain area to Lake Superior, our tribe is ready to stand up and protect Nibi (water) for all peoples and future generations,” Chairman Mike Wiggins said in a press release, The Ashland Current reported.

Gogebic Taconite is proposing a $1.5 billion mine just south of the reservation. The site is near the watershed of the Bad River and near the river's headwaters.

Although the project is located off the reservation, the company would have to address the tribe's standards in any permit it might seek under the Clean Water Act.

Get the Story:
EPA gives Wisconsin tribe power to set water standards (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 10/6)
Tribe gets boost in mine opposition with OK of water standards (The Wisconsin State Journal 10/6)
Wis. mine plans pit jobs against environment (AP 10/6)
EPA Approves Bad River Water Standards (The Ashland Current 10/5)

Related Stories:
WRN: Bad River Band discusses mine opposition with governor (9/21)
WUWM: Bad River Band worried about effects of mining on lake (9/14)
Column: Proposed mine affects Bad River Ojibwe Reservation (6/22)
Letter: Bad River Ojibwe will suffer most with proposed mine (6/15)
Opinion: Proposed iron mine poses a risk to Bad River Ojibwe (6/9)
'Manoominike: Gathering the Good Seed' takes up wild rice (5/5)