On July 22, 1996, the activists stopped a train bound for the copper mine as it crossed the reservation. The train was carrying tankers of sulfuric acid for use in pilot solution mining. The mine had drastically scaled back operations and laid off thousands the previous year due to its diminishing profits. Inmet, a Toronto-based corporation, hoped to inject of acid into the mine to bring out any remaining ore. This plan raised concerns among environmentalists that the acid would contaminate groundwater and nearby Lake Superior. The EPA granted permission for the experiment without requiring a hearing or an environmental impact statement. Among those astounded by this decision was Walter Bresette, a Red Cliff Ojibwe activist and Indigenous chair of the EPA'S National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Bresette resigned his position and joined with the Native rights group Anishinabe Ogichidaa, Ojibwe for "Protector of the People," on a new course of action.