The Campaign has placed special emphasis on the fact that mining in Wisconsin is given special treatment by state and federal laws that all other state industry must comply with. Mining here is not subject to federal hazardous waste laws, allowing mining to simply landfill wastes even if cyanide is present. Mining in Wisconsin is also subject to less restrictive groundwater and wetlands standards. Nicolet Minerals' Crandon proposal would use 10 times the amount of cyanide as used by any other state company. The Campaign countered absurd comparisons of small amounts of cyanide in coffee to that of cyanide in mine wastes.
Humans can metabolize low levels of cyanide found in some foods.
However, fish and other wildlife cannot. The tiniest amount of cyanide is toxic to fish and aquatic life. It said that the devastating environmental damages caused by cyanide accidents worldwide illustrate the extreme toxicity of cyanide. The people of Wisconsin know that there is no safe level of cyanide and have a right to see that it never be used northern Wisconsin. More than 20 local governments and 12,000 Wisconsin citizens have signed on to effort to ban cyanide in mining.