WICOLA LCCMR 2026 Project Peer Review and WICOLA Responses
In March 2025, WICOLA, partnering with Bay West and Clearwater BioLogic applied for a 2026 LCCMR (Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources) grant to study Clearwater BioLogic’s sulfate mitigation technology on the water in the Dunka river, below the mine discharge site as a sulfate reduction technology for our watershed. The function of LCCMR is to make funding recommendations to the Minnesota legislature for special environment and natural resource projects, primarily from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF).
After review in June 2025, the LCCMR voted to recommend funding of $727,000 to fund the project. This technology is viewed as both a mine-friendly and environmentally friendly solution as it’s low cost, safe, and eliminates a major impact on the environment.
In Fall 2025 WICOLA completed a Scientific Peer Review of the technology. The next step in the process is for the MN state legislature to approve the LCCMR appropriations sometime after they convene in February 2026. Then WICOLA will begin the process of securing necessary permits and permissions from local stakeholders, and will work with the LCCMR to add details to, and finalize their work plan.
The link below will download a document with the peer review comments and WICOLA’s responses to each comment.