Pebble Mine
ACE's View
The Pebble Mine Project would be the largest
open pit gold mine in North America
Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian exploration company Northern Dynasty Minerals, Ltd., is attempting to develop the Pebble Mine project on state land in the Nushagak-Big River Hills, 17 miles northwest of the Villiage of Illiamna and about 235 miles southwest of Anchorage.
If the Pebble Project and the resulting roads, power and infrastructure are developed, the watersheds and habitat in the Illiamna Region could become some of the most threatened areas in Alaska.
To see a map of the proposed Pebble Mine, click here.
Bristol Bay Watershed:
One of America's Most Endangered Rivers
On Wednesday, April 19, 2006, the Bristol Bay Watershed was named one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2006.
Bristol Bay made the list because of a proposal to build North America’s largest open pit gold and copper mine in the Bay’s headwaters. But the inclusion of Bristol Bay on the America’s Most Endangered Rivers list presents us with a unique opportunity to change the course of the river’s future.
You can learn more about Bristol Bay and America’s Most Endangered Rivers, and take action on behalf of the river by clicking on this link:
http://www.americanrivers.org
Please, take a moment today to join thousands of others who are contacting important decision makers and spreading the word about Bristol Bay. Action by citizens like you could make the difference for the future of the river.
Kensington Mine
- ACE's View
- Current Issues (April 2006)
- Related Resources
- What You Can Do
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Lions Head Mountain
Photo Courtesy of Pat Costello |
ACE's View
Alaska's Clean Water Threatened:
For the first time in U.S. history, the federal government has issued a permit that would allow a gold mining company to dump its chemically processed mine waste into a pristine lake, killing everything in the lake. If allowed to proceed, the company would dump 4.5 million tons of toxic waste into Lower Slate Lake, a pristine body of water above Berners Bay, north of Juneau. This is a clear violation of the Clean Water Act.
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Lynn Canal Conservation, and the Sierra Club have filed a legal challenge to try to prevent Coeur Alaska from dumping toxic rock waste from the Kensington Mine project into our clean water. If allowed to stand, this bad precedent could be applied to lakes, rivers and ocean waters throughout Alaska.
Current Issues
Army Corps Reissues Permit for Kensington Mine:
The Army Corps of Engineers reissued the permit for the Kensington mine that was withdrawn last November in response to concerns about water pollution. The permit still fails to protect Alaska’s clean water and allows Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation to dump tailings directly into Lower Slate Lake, which lies within the Berners Bay watershed. This is the first time since the Clean Water Act became law that a mine would be allowed to dump its waste directly into a lake or stream.
Now that the Corps has reinstated the permit with no substantial changes, the lawsuit filed by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC), Lynn Canal Conservation, and the Sierra Club in September 2005 will resume. The groups will ask for a decision as quickly as possible.
If these plans move ahead, the use of Lower Slate Lake as a dump for mine waste will set a major statewide and nationwide precedent for future mines. Both the Governor and Alaska Department of Natural Resources officials have stated that what happens at Kensington will set the stage for other mines around the state. Allowing a mining company to dump tailings in a lake at Kensington could have a strong effect on approval for the massive, controversial Pebble mine near Bristol Bay.
Related Resources
Article - My turn: Think long term
Eco-tourism is less disruptive to Berners than Kensington Mine
Juneau Empire: Web posted April 4, 2006 - Go to website
By BUTCH CARBER
Much has been written about the proposed Kensington Mine project. The major argument for the mine is the perceived economic benefits it will bring, and the major argument against the mine is the possible environmental degradation that many are sure will follow.
The Murkowski administration has made it clear that resource development is a high priority and they will move forward to continue the development of our resources.
Yet, we already have resource development in Berners Bay. Alaska Discovery has been taking guests kayaking into Berners Bay (and other destinations) to enjoy our pristine Alaska wilderness for more than 35 years.
We, and many others like us, have been here for a long time, and we will be here for many years after Coeur Alaska has finished with their proposed project. Ours is a sustainable resource. Our staff live here. We spend our income locally. Our guests are here for many days. They stay in our hotels, they eat in our restaurants, they shop in our stores. They patronize Alaska-owned businesses, and those dollars spent all stay here in Alaska.
Annually, these guests bring millions of dollars to the economy of Southeast Alaska, and they will continue to do so far longer than the 10 to 15 years that Coeur Alaska tells us they will keep the mine open.
Our industry offers much and takes almost nothing. We may not be able to match the short-term dollars that Coeur is insisting they will bring to the region, but we will far surpass that financial benefit to Southeast Alaska in the long term. And there is no question of whether we will be leaving a legacy of environmental degradation.
Let's weigh our knowns against our unknowns.
We know that having increased ferry traffic will disrupt the wilderness nature of Berners Bay. We know the noise pollution from an operating gold mine will disrupt that quiet and solitude that we all need to reconnect with at some time or another (or we wouldn't be here in Alaska). We know that we will have a visual fragmentation of the natural landscape of Berners Bay with a dock at Cascade Point and a dam on Slate Lake.
With eco-tourism, we know that the noise pollution may be that whispered excitement as people are enchanted by the wonders of Berners Bay, or the light splash as a paddle dips in the water. We might have increased kayak traffic, up to six kayaks a day, three days a week - and we know that, at the end of the day, the visual and cerebral tranquility has not been disturbed.
It may take adventure tourism 25 years to bring into the Juneau economy the dollars that Coeur offers us in 10 years, but we won't have the unknowns of how much damage to the marine life - possible cyanide pollution of the groundwater, which environmental laws have to be "bent" to favor Coeur Alaska, or whether this will become a Superfund site - and we've gained that same economic benefit that defenders of development are calling for, without any of the risks that all of us are unsure of with a mining operation. That is what sustainability is all about. It works in our fishing industry. Let's keep it working in our own backyard.
Butch Carber is a Juneau resident who works for Alaska Discovery Wilderness Adventures.
What You Can Do:
You can educate your neighbors on Alaska's need for fresh, clean water by submitting a letter to your local paper.
Contact Information for Letters to the Editor
Juneau Empire
editor@juneauempire.com
(Letters must be 400 words or fewer)
Anchorage Daily News
letters@adn.com
(Letters must be 250 words or fewer)
YOUR VOICE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
In your letter, please feel free to include some or all of the following points IN YOUR OWN WORDS…
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Dumping chemically treated mine waste in a lake is wrong, highly irresponsible and must be challenged in court.
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Allowing Outside special interest to intentionally pollute a lake and kill its fish is unacceptable and bad for Alaska's economy and image.
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The mining industry, dominated by outside and foreign interests, poses a triple threat to our state:
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They want to turn salmon spawning streams into toxic "mixing zones,"
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They want to dump mine waste in a fish-bearing lake;
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Adding insult to injury, the mining industry is not paying its own way
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All Alaskans should thank those who are challenging this bad precedent.
Contact eric@akcenter.org for more information.
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