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Huge Open-pit Gold Mine Proposed in Alaska

dorienskye, 05.01.2006

Northern Dynasty Mines, a Canadian company, is proposing to start operations on what would be North America's largest open pit gold and copper mine, deep in the heart of pristine Alaskan wilderness. The Pebble Mine site is located just south of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, 15 miles northwest of Lake Iliamna and some 250 miles south of Anchorage. The Iliamna region is important to many Alaskan’s subsistence lifestyle. It is home to one of the world’s only populations of freshwater seals, the large Mulchatna caribou herd, and contains the headwaters of Bristol Bay, with the largest runs of sockeye and Chinook salmon in the world.

planned area of the mine

The Pebble Mine proposal includes the creation of a 20 square mile toxic waste-storage lagoon, and the elimination of Frying Pan Lake, critical for spawning salmon. Recent finds of high grade ore at the edge of the mine site has led NDM to consider a second underground mine adjacent to the main pit, which would be widened to 2 miles across. Mines such as these can release arsenic, sulfuric acid, cyanide (NDM has already rescinded an earlier promise not to use cyanide), and heavy metals including lead and mercury. Hard rock mines are, in fact, the single largest source of toxic spills and leakage in the U.S. Despite the enormous presence of the oil and gas industries in Alaska, three out of four of the largest illegal industrial spills in Alaska in 2003 were caused by the mining industry.

Alaska already has its share of toxic mines. In 1990, zinc contamination levels around the Red Dog zinc and lead mine in NW Alaska rose to levels 200 times higher than the standard. According to the EPA’s toxic release inventory in 2002, Red Dog releases 481.6 million pounds of toxic pollutants a year, the major contributor to Alaska’s total of 545.5 million pounds, more than any other state in the US. The current Pebble proposal describes a mine with 20 times the ore output of Red Dog, making the resulting pollution likely to be far worse.

One of the major issues surrounding the Pebble project is the remoteness of location. Getting power to the mine would require either an over 200 mile (322 km) long power line slicing right through Lake Clark National Park (a remote, roadless park), or one going 80 miles (129 km) to the ocean, and then another roughly 40 miles (64.5 km) under the Cook Inlet to the town of Homer. The construction of either option, as well as the proposed 75 mile long private road, in such remote, previously untouched areas will indubitably cause wide spread ecological damage, not only by the immediate effects of development but also through increased accessibility. The state, as usual, will pay for any development in the area, including roads and power lines for the sole use of the mine, effectively privatizing public land for the lifetime of the mine. Once the infrastructure is in place for large mining operations such as a road, mill and high-tension power lines, the mining of smaller surrounding sites becomes more feasible. There are over 540 square miles of land claimed by six different mining companies north of Lake Iliamna that have the potential to be opened.

The region of the mine is also known for seismic activity. It is at the base of Mt. Iliamna, an active volcano that continually plumes, and earthquakes in the area are frequent, including a major one this spring. Furthermore, two active volcanoes that have gone off multiple times in the last 30 years flank Mt. Iliamna on both sides. Even waste ponds recently constructed with ‘cutting edge’ technology have been known to break open, causing widespread damage above and beyond the usual leakage. The Baia Mare gold mine in Romania had a damn failure from excess rainfall that resulted in the release of 130 cubic yards of mine waste containing 75 tons cyanide, which killed 80% of the fish in the Tisza River and disrupted the drinking water of 2.5 million people. Putting such waste ponds in areas of intense seismic activity can only increase the risk.

The mine would employ an estimated 2000 workers during construction and1000 after it is opened. The small Native villages that do exist in these remote regions rely on fish and caribou for food, and the mine threatens to permanently destroy the delicate balance they have with nature by increasing the population, which puts more stress on the food resources, by driving away game with their operations, and by the destruction of the entire local ecology with toxic leakages. Despite the jobs promised (mostly labor), the mining industry is not usually associated with prosperous communities across the nation for a number of reasons. Metal commodity prices are unstable, causing instability in employment and payroll, the life of a contemporary metal mine tends to be relatively short, the labor needs of metal mining operations are constantly falling as technological change displaces workers, and environmental damage associated with metal mining discourages people and business from locating near mining operations. The Red Dog Mine mentioned above does employ a significant portion of the local Native population, but in labor jobs with serious exposure to lead contamination and other toxins. Higher paying jobs will be filled by people brought in, probably from outside Alaska. The Nushagak river villages of Kooliganek, New Stuyahok, Ekwok, Dillingham Village Council, Lake and Pen villages, Nondalton Village Council, and Kokhanok Village Council, have written resolutions opposing the mine development, though there is a fair degree of local ambivalence.

The laws to deal with mining in Alaska (as with much of the nation) are outdated and inadequate. Alaska’s major industries are all extractive, many very environmentally damaging, and the government usually supports these industries without hesitation. The states legislature’s recent votes on mining issues have favored industry by a margin of 278-2. Recent decisions have included allowing mining companies to dump tailings directly into fresh water lakes. The state has financed $267 million dollars of development for the Red Dog mine, $71 million in 1997 alone to the Fort Knox Mine, and have approved to pay more than 25% of the capital cost for the development of the Kensington Mine. This kind of support makes Alaska a very attractive place for mining companies to operate in. The EPA reports that mining has contaminated 40% of the headwaters in the western US outside of Alaska, and, if we continue on the same course, Alaska seems likely to join that statistic.

In the case of a toxic release, ND’s managements may not be affected by attempts to hold them accountable. As Canadian citizens and residents, certain of Northern Dynasty’s directors and officers may not be subject themselves to U.S. legal proceedings, so that recovery on judgments issued by U.S. courts may be difficult or impossible. Even though Alaskans are largely supportive of mining activities, the problems with the Pebble project are enough to make even most of them think twice. The threat not only to the regions environment, but the subsistence lifestyle of much of the state’s population through threatening the Bristol Bay fisheries and caribou grounds widely used by nearby population centers, has many people in opposition to the mine. Unfortunately, politicians aren’t listening, and the governor has already given his approval, as has the Lake and Peninsula Borough in which the mine would be situated. Leaders in Alaska usually enjoy the support of the public when they encourage extractive industries to set up operations in the state, doing the will of the people and lining their own pockets at the same time. But let Alaskans decide for once NOT to let an Outside company rape our land, and we see the politicians show their true colors. Mining, already the source of most of our pollution, is not strongly regulated in the state, and allowing North America’s biggest open pit mine to open up in the middle of pristine country and crucial subsistence habitat is inviting catastrophe.

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