Seitz said he hadn’t read the entire report, but he criticized it for referring to research done by a geologist who had presented information to the Legislature that the company contradicted during hearings that led up to enactment last year of a new mining law that sets limits on how long the DNR can review the company’s proposal.

Sullivan said his staff drew information from dozens of scientists while relying on research that had withstood stringent peer reviews.

Gogebic Taconite has drilled eight core samples at the mine site and it is seeking DNR permission for 15 more.

It also has applied for a permit to remove 4,000 tons of rock to help it determine the machinery needed to extract iron from waste rock.

The DNR review of research wasn’t designed as a review of the mining plans that Gogebic Taconite has sketched out in its preliminary permit requests, officials said.

But in at least one passage, the report highlights two studies that addressed the “dry stacking” method for storing potentially hazardous waste rock that the company plans to use, saying it was more expensive than other methods, but it had advantages of taking up less space and reducing risk of water contamination.

The report also discusses the myriad lakes and streams in the forests around the mine site, and the danger of acid runoff from waste rock, which can require decades of monitoring. Mine waste has been observed to leach neutral drainage for 14 years before beginning to leach highly destructive acid runoff, the report said.

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