COMMUNITY VOICES | Sketching through conflict: Laughs and skits on mining in Emily, Minn.
Emily residents talked – and laughed – about a proposed manganese mine with Sketches of Minnesota.
Editor’s Note: Britta Koch is a member of the Emily Mine Information Group in Emily, a small town roughly 2 hours west of Duluth. The group’s goal is to make sure area residents and property owners receive accurate information about a proposed manganese mine.
In 2024, the city of Emily had the largest attendance per capita of all Sketches of Minnesota events – events that build community with comedy. With that attendance record and the potential for a manganese mine within Emily city limits, it made sense for the Sketches team to return this year to continue community conversations with support from its host partner, Emily Mine Information Group (EMIG).
More than 50 attendees enjoyed a cocktail hour, connected with neighbors, and visited booths staffed by EMIG, Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates, Tamarack Water Alliance, Northern Waters Land Trust, and GoNorthMN. Local businesses, The Pickled Loon and Hawley Hill Gardens, provided catering and table arrangements at the August 18 event.
Sketches of Minnesota is a collaboration of the Minnesota Humanities Center and Danger Boat Productions formed in 2024 to encourage communities to come together for an evening to have real conversations, share a free meal, and enjoy improv comedy that reflects their conversations.
Emcee Tane Danger interviewed two experts on stage, Bob Karls, hydrogeologist with over 46 years of experience, and Joy Anderson, legal director at Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. The questions were meant to be neither pro- nor anti-mining.
What is manganese? Why do we need it? When can it be harmful?
Karls explained that manganese is used for making steel and some types of batteries, but exposure over certain levels makes manganese a harmful neurotoxin.
As such, Karls stressed the importance of baseline water testing and mentioned EMIG's local water testing program. Anderson reminded everyone that if they have a private well, it is wise to have their water tested.
How do mining projects work in Minnesota?
Anderson explained the steps: environmental review, scoping, draft project, final project, and then permitting. As of now, the proposed Emily mine is at stage zero. She added that there is no set timetable for how long it takes. It varies greatly by mine.
The DNR is required to provide commenting periods at several points throughout the permitting process. They must review and respond to every comment. The recent state executive order to stop mining in the Rainy River Watershed, adjacent to the Boundary Waters, Anderson believes was driven in part by the more than 100,000 comments the DNR received.
The improv comedy troupe turned this content into short vignettes. One riffed on the three little pigs. The pig’s house made with straw needed manganese for more support. Some word plays on mine – Won’t you be mine forever? Is it Mine-osota? And can one actually pronounce manganese? Or is it magma? Or magnesium? Wait, that’s what helps you sleep!
Next came questions from the audience. These included concerns about the environmental impact, the probability of the mine to be approved quickly, and the plan for wastewater.
As of now, answers are not known since there has not been an environmental impact study done, mine approvals progress at different speeds, and wastewater management has not yet been scoped, Karls and Anderson responded.
Often it is cheaper to mine than recycle, but just because mining is happening in another country that will absorb potential environmental impacts, it does not absolve us of responsibility, Karls said. Anderson pointed out that Minnesota does not have the strongest standards for mining. According to her, the current standards set in 1993 were based on studies from the 1970s.
What about the Fast 41 federal program? Anderson clarified that while that program was put in place to streamline review at the federal level, Minnesota still has its own processes, which still have to be followed.
The comedy team took this content and poked fun at the permitting process. “Go look at your back yard for four years and then maybe we’ll issue a permit for a pool.” Two actors pretended to pound keyboards. “We never issue permits. We just hit the keys.”
Desperate for manganese, one actor said to his neighbor “I know you buried your dog in your yard a year ago, and I want the manganese from his bones.” The “homeowner” replied that he could have her Valerian for a sleep aid. “I still need to dig up your dog.”
To close, Danger said he hoped people had meaningful conversations and made connections that would last for years. Then, unlike other Sketches events, the attendees helped organizers clean up before heading home.
What can I do no matter how I feel about mining?
- Participate: Attend events like Sketches.
- Know your water quality: Get your water tested.
- Make informed choices: Do you really need a new phone? Can you recycle more?
- Be informed: Research and read about your issue. Find groups that provide factual information and follow them.
- Get Minnesota Pollution Control Agency updates: pca.state.mn.us.
- Find a "watchdog" for what concerns you: Emily Mine Information Group, Tamarack Water Alliance, and Minnesota Lakes and Rivers.
Upcoming events: Sketches of Minnesota
Worthington: 5-8:30 p.m. on September 25
Iron Range: 5 to 8:30 p.m. on October 1
Luverne: 5 to 8:30 p.m. on October 10
