Stakes high as Minnesota enforces wild rice sulfate standard

CHISHOLM — Long on the books but not enforced, Minnesota regulators are beginning to implement the state’s limit on sulfate released into wild rice waters, reigniting a contentious environmental debate.

The outcome could determine the future of not only thousands of mining jobs, but also the future of hundreds of other non-mining facilities across the state, mining company and union officials argue, while environmental groups and Indigenous tribes say the health of wild rice — manoomin — a sacred staple for Ojibwe people is at stake.

The latest chapter in the fight over Minnesota’s sulfate standard for wild rice waters of 10 parts per million (ppm) comes as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency seeks public comment on a pair of draft water permits that limit the amount of sulfate at U