Southeast Alaska: Alaskan Concerns Escalate As British Columbia Government Gives Red Chris Mine Final Operating Permit - B.C. Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett recently announced that the Red Chris Mine, owned by Imperial Metals, will soon be in full production, despite environmental concerns from First Nations, environmental groups and Alaskans, who are downstream from the mine site. Red Chris Gold and Copper Mine sits on one of the largest and highest-quality copper and gold deposits in the world.

The Red Chris Mine site in northwestern B.C. has received a full operating permit from the provincial government.
Photo by Daniel Henshaw / Courtesy B.C. government

Concerned Alaskans say this ill-conceived decision by the British Columbia government to issue a final operating permit for Red Chris mine disregards concerns from Alaskans whose clean water, fisheries, tourism, jobs, and traditional ways of life are threatened. Red Chris is owned by Imperial Metals, the same company responsible for the Mount Polley mine disaster last summer, one of Canada’s worst environmental catastrophes. Red Chris is one of several B.C. mines proposed for the transboundary region straddling Alaska that have raised the public’s ire.

Opponents say B.C. issuing Red Chris its final permits on June 12 is the latest sign Canada is ignoring its obligations under the Boundary Waters Treaty, an international treaty that guards against water pollution by either the U.S. or Canada. Under the treaty, the United States, including Alaska, should play an equal role in evaluating the full range of potential impacts of B.C. mine projects, like Red Chris, in watersheds shared by both countries. B.C. should also agree to assume an equal share of the risks posed by transboundary mines through a legally-binding mechanism that ensures Alaska is appropriately compensated for impacts related to pollution reaching Alaskan waters.

Upstream from the Southeast Alaska communities of Wrangell and nearby Petersburg, in the headwaters of the transboundary Stikine River, Red Chris has the potential to unleash acid mine drainage, heavy metals and other pollutants that will drain into Southeast Alaska’s pristine waters say concerned Alaskans. These waters produce more salmon than any other region of the world, as well as support multi-billion dollar fishing and tourism industries, and indigenous cultures of the region.

According to Salmon Beyond Borders and the United Tribal Transboundary Mining Work Group, it is reckless for B.C. to permit a new mine with the same type of tailings technology that failed so catastrophically at Mount Polley in August 2014. Red Chris’ permits make clear that B.C. is disregarding the recommendations from the independent panel review of the Mount Polley failure. One of the panel’s top recommendations was that new mines stop using tailings dams and move to more modern waste treatment methods like dry-stacking. Canada’s full-speed-ahead approach to transboundary mining is why Alaskans need prompt, swift and strong action from the U.S. State Department to ensure Canada honors its obligations under theBoundary Waters Treaty and doesn’t harm Alaska’s water, fisheries, culture and jobs.

"It's astonishing to me how B.C. is dead set on getting these transboundary mines operating at all costs -- even when their own experts say that current mining technology will fail. As I've said before, the B.C. government is ignoring the rights and concerns of those of us who live in Southeast Alaska. This is not okay and we will continue to fight," says Rob Sanderson Jr., Co-chair of the United Tribal Transboundary Mining Work Group.

Alaskans, including Alaska’s congressional delegation, have been calling for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to activate theInternational Joint Commission (IJC) to review the multitude of mine developments in the transboundary region and how they could impact Alaska’s downstream waters. Today’s news that Red Chris is open for business should be a loud wake-up call for Sec. Kerry that the time to get the IJC involved is now.

The Red Chris Mine, which will employ 350 workers, including many First Nations people, is located about 18 kilometres southeast of the Tahltan village of Iskut and 80 kilometres south of Dease Lake and the site occupies around 660 hectares on the Todagin Plateau between Ealue and Kluea Lakes. - More...
Monday PM - June 29, 2015

Alaska: Alaska Joins Lawsuit Challenging EPA and the Corps on New “Water” Rule - Governor Bill Walker (I-AK) announced today that the State of Alaska will join North Dakota and 10 other states in challenging the recently finalized “waters of the United States” rule adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps). The new rule attempts to define what waters are covered by the Clean Water Act, resulting in the need for a federal permit. However, instead of clarifying federal law, the rule has left states with more questions.

“This final rule will likely have detrimental impacts on development in Alaska,” said Governor Walker. “In addition to being incredibly expansive, the rule is also unclear. It will only lead to more expensive permitting and legal fights over ‘what is in’ and ‘what is out’ under the federal law.”

The new rule expands what falls under federal jurisdiction by automatically sweeping up “adjacent” or “neighboring” waters and wetlands within a certain geographic limit to downstream waters already covered by federal law. Additionally, if “adjacent” or “neighboring” water extends into the set geographic limit by even a few feet, the entire water body or wetland is subject to federal jurisdiction and permitting. By virtue of Alaska’s unique and abundant water and wetland areas, many adjacent or neighboring waters will fall within the rule, regardless of their connection to downstream waters.

“Alaska has over 174 million acres of wetlands, and more coastline and wetlands than all of the Lower 48 combined,” said Governor Walker. “While not all of these waters are covered by the Clean Water Act, we have long protected these important resources under statutory and regulatory authorities. This new rule just creates confusion and unnecessary bureaucracy for our state.”

According to the states’ complaint, problems with the new rule not only include the substance of the rule, but also the way it came about. Under the Clean Water Act, Congress recognizes the primary responsibility of the state to prevent pollution and plan the development and use of water resources within its borders. However, despite the significant effects this rule has on state sovereign authority, the EPA and the Corps failed to meaningfully consult with the states in the development of the rule.

“This rule came about under a muddled process which failed to consider information specific to Alaska,” said Governor Walker. “By overlooking our state’s unique circumstances, the rulemaking fails to disclose the regulatory and economic impacts it will have on Alaska, which is required by law.”

In a speech last week on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) outlined the wide range of threats to Alaska posed by the Environmental Protection Agency’s new “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, which significantly expands the EPA’s ability to regulate more of Alaska’s land and water.

The rule includes provisions that give EPA control over areas within 4,000 feet of a jurisdictional “water”– using a dubious methodology, said Murkowkski, that fails to take into account the on-the-ground reality for states like Alaska. The rule poses additional obstacles to responsible economic development and private construction in Interior areas like Fairbanks and coastal areas like Juneau. At the same time, it will significantly hike costs and delay renewable hydropower projects in Southeast Alaska.

Murkowski, who blocked funding for this overreaching rule as Chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, articulated the economic threats the flawed rule would pose in countless ways statewide. - More...
Monday PM - June 29, 2015