Newsmakers: Mining in Northern Wisconsin – Sen. Bob Jauch, Rep. Janet Bewley
Legislators who represent Ashland and Iron counties, Democratic Sen. Bob Jauch and Rep. Janet Bewley, talked about the desperate need for jobs in an area where Gegobic Taconite wants to build a huge open-pit iron mine. In a Newsmakers interview on Oct. 10, Jauch and Bewley said they can’t answer the pleas of their constituents for mining jobs, since there is no specific bill circulating in the Capitol to meet the demands of Gegobic Taconite. The mining company has put the project on hold until the Legislature and governor rewrite current laws. Jauch and Bewley said they must balance several needs — northern Wisconsin’s economy, protecting the environment and the uncertainly of trusting a major international company that has never run an open-pit mine. Jauch and Mellen were interviewed at an Ashland County overlook a few miles from the Penokee Hills, where the 4.5-mile open pit mine would be developed over several years.
