Environment
Sustainability is the foundation of PolyMet's Environmental Philosophy.
Strictly following this very conservative environmental philosophy throughout planning, construction, operation and ultimate closure will help ensure that PolyMet protects natural resources from harm.
PolyMet has put its environmental philosophy into practice in its planning by using extremely conservative assumptions that predict potential worst-case outcomes from its operations and then developing multiple environmental safeguards to prevent these outcomes from occurring.
Putting sustainability into practice also means the company is committed to conservation of existing resources:
PolyMet designed its facility to maximize the reuse of LTV Steel Mining Company’s brownfield site and existing infrastructure.
Careful planning also has minimized the impact PolyMet will have on wetlands. In addition, the company will construct about 1,100 acres of wetlands off-site and, at closure, will construct 175 acres on-site. These steps will mitigate the 848 acres of wetlands affected by the project.