Wisconsin's Mining Standoff

A proposal to dig what could be one of North America’s largest open pit iron mines in northern Wisconsin pits corporate interests against a coalition of tribes and local residents.

On March 11, 2013, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed legislation that rewrote the state's iron mining laws, paving the way for Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) to dig a $1.5 billion open-pit mine in the pristine woods of the Penokee mountain range. The mine, which could eventually reach 22-miles in length, provoked an immediate standoff. On one side is GTAC and its supporters anxious for jobs in an area with unemployment double the national average. On the other stand the tribes, residents, and political leaders intent on preserving the land and protecting the water from contamination. Fault Lines follows the unfolding battle on the ground and traces the way money and power have influenced the laws that will determine whether and how this mine gets built.