Pebble Mine, Dirty Gold, and the Corporate War on Alaska’s Salmon.
30 07 2009[This article is cross-posted at The Huffington Post]
A lawsuit was filed today claiming that all Pebble Mine’s state permits violate the Alaska constitution. Skulduggery surrounding Pebble Mine? Imagine that.
On the receiving end of these legal accusations is the State Department of Natural Resources. The suit was filed today on behalf of eight communities in the Bristol Bay area by plaintiffs including Vic Fischer, one of the drafters of the Alaska Constitution, and Bella Hammond widow of the revered Governor Jay Hammond who had previously said “I think Jay would first and foremost think of protecting that area, mainly the fish and the game.”
At issue is Article VIII of the Alaska Constitution, according to the legal documents.
Article VIII of the Alaska Constitution provides that state land and water resources shall be developed consistent with the public interest; for the maximum benefit of the people of Alaska; to reserve fish, wildlife and waters to the people for their common use; and to maintain these resources on a sustained yield basis. Article VIII further specifically provides that there shall be no disposals or leases of state lands, or interests therein, without prior public notice and other safeguards of the public interest, and that the Legislature may provide for issuance of permits for exploration of the public domain subject to reasonable concurrent use. Under Article VIII, laws and regulations governing the use or disposal of natural resources are to be applied equally to all persons similarly situated. The Alaska courts have found that Article VIII requires the State to hold public resources in trust for public use, and that the State has a fiduciary duty to manage such resources for the common good with the public as beneficiary.
Steve Cotton Director of the Alaska Trustees states that the State of Alaska has violated multiple provisions of Article VIII, by issuing various permits allowing exploration of the Pebble site. The permits, he says, are issued out of sight, and with no notice or input from the public. Exploration activity around the proposed Pebble Mine site has been ongoing and invasive.
Cotton says the State Department of Natural Resources has violated the law by not providing proper public notices and hearings about exploration activity at Pebble. He says only one notice has ever gone out. He told Fish Radio:
It’s the one and only notice the state has ever provided in 21 years of exploration at Pebble. It was put up on the state’s internet site. It wasn’t’ mailed out, it wasn’t’ published in a newspaper – they don’t even call it a real notice. They know it’s inadequate so they call it a ‘courtesy notice.’ And say it’s not legally required and it doesn’t’ even mention the Pebble mine. And of course, many people in the region, including most of the clients in this case, don’t even have internet access.
Cotton says the people in the region “are at the breaking point,” and a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to stop all exploration at the proposed Pebble Mine site until a judge rules on the case is needed.
The current two year exploration permit that was issued earlier this year, allows Pebble Limited Partnerships to drill 425 bore holes – some as deep as 7,000 feet. They can dig 320 test pits and set 220,000 feet of seismic line s– along where the explosions are set off – they can put helicopters in the air 24/7 making hundreds of trips per season, and they can withdraw tens of millions of gallons of water from streams and ponds in the area, without even knowing if there are fish in the water they’re pumping from. That’s’ a lot of impact. No oil company could get away with this level of activity without public notice and comment, and without a searching public interest analysis by state regulators.
But Pebble Mine could employ hundreds of people for up to 50 years, the mining giants Anglo American and Northern Dynasty tell us. They always fail to remind us that if the mine pollutes the surrounding area, (which every other mine of its type has done) the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world will be toxic marine roadkill, and hundreds of jobs will be lost for potentially hundreds of years.
The mine has been decried by Captain Sig Hanson of Alaska’s Deadliest Catch, a host of scientists, The Renewable Resources Coalition and even five major jewelry store chains including Tiffany & Co., Ben Bridge, and Fortunoff. Last Valentine’s Day, these companies joined others in the “No Dirty Gold” campaign swearing to shun gold coming from the Pebble Mine.
“We are committed to sourcing our gold and other materials in ways that ensure the protection of natural resources such as the Bristol Bay watershed. We would not want the jewelry we sell to our customers to jeopardize this important natural resource,” the pledge says.
Last November, Alaska residents were subjected to a massive ad campaign from an organization called “Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown.” We were told to believe that mining means jobs, and that mining jobs are better than fishing jobs. Mining jobs, they told us, should exist despite the inability of the mining companies to guarantee the preservation of the Bristol Bay watershed, its fish, and those who depend on them to live and to work.
Pebble Mine is only one of the players in the corporate war on salmon that extends from Bristol Bay up the coast to the regions of Western Alaska struggling for their subsistence rights against the factory pollock trawlers decimating the salmon heading for the Yukon. This is only one effort, and it will be fought tooth and nail by powerful forces with lots of money.
Thanks to the men and women who stand up to fight these giants, and to ensure that Alaskans have a voice. We need every one of you; the Vic Fischers and the Bella Hammonds, and the villages in the Bristol Bay region, and the people who depend on clean salmon and clean water, and those of us who will be called upon to lend our support as the months roll on.
It will take a concerted effort for Alaskans to see through the spin, and the slick ads, and look clearly at where the true resource value of the state lies. We must learn to value the sustainable over the unsustainable. Our valuable resources don’t just come out of the ground.
[Please keep comments on topic. Off topic comments belong on the Open Thread. Thanks!]
July 30th, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Here’s just a bit of history on the parent corporation, Anglo-American. Anglo-American was heavily involved in US Borax’s attempt to put in a molybedenum mine on the mainland behind Ketchikan. Same environmental issues at stake. Anglo-American’s first commercial success, back at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was Rio Tinto Zinc, a zinc mine on the west coast of Africa, where locals were enslaved and forced to work under deplorable conditions. One of the founders of Anglo-America, way back then, was Cecil Rhodes, a frightful white-supremacist who brought us – Phodesia. This is all ancient history, but any corporation that was founded under such greedy, destructive principles carried a great weight of bad karma and is not real likely to have changed much.
July 30th, 2009 at 11:42 AM
FYI Drift Lake Resources, Inc. trades in Canada as TSXV and in the U.S. as DLA.
$arah’s shares have closed yesterday at $0.18 per share. It will be interesting to see if they have purchased additional shares in her final disclosure.
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ric=DLA.V
July 30th, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Just cross posted this at The Huffington Post. Link is at the top of the article. Thanks for the nudge!
July 30th, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Closet Mudpup@46 and Martha Unalaska@49
Thank you for the information!
July 30th, 2009 at 12:47 PM
If you get a chance, buzz up this article on Huffington or make a comment there.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/akmuckraker/pebble-mine-dirty-gold-an_b_248106.html
July 30th, 2009 at 12:50 PM
here’s some video, wow, the salmon are beautiful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH_TzBju8rU
This short film clip by Felt Soul Media frames the debate on the proposed gold mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay in AK.
Learn More. Get Involved.
July 30th, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Generating 99% waste to get 1% mineral??? Make the largest mine in North America for that?!!! Risk Alaska’s Salmon for that? Chew up Alaska’s beauty for 1% mineral? Polute Alaska’s water?
Outrageous.
here’s another video, longer than the last one I posted, good info.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAPcd_J27Yc&feature=fvw
July 30th, 2009 at 1:10 PM
It will take an all out, non-stop, no holds barred effort to stop Pebble Mine. It is obvious that the Palin Administration (and most likely Gov. Parnell) totally supported the project and will not work to help those against it.
It is absolutely astounding to me that Alaskans could even consider trading the Bristol Bay fishery (and the rest of the irreplacable ecosystems of the watershed) for a few years of a handful of jobs for money going to an international corporation. And maybe the state thinks so as well, which is why they don’t want the public to wiegh in on the decision.
July 30th, 2009 at 1:15 PM
here is a take action letter that the National Parks Conservation Association is asking we send to Salazar, Murkowski and Begich. Get on it Mudpups.
http://act.npca.org/campaign/lake_clark_mining?qp_source=adv%5fgaw%5flc0709&gclid=CMqxlqqu%5fpsCFRMUagodr3kq%2dg
“One million acres of prime wolf, bear, and salmon habitat adjacent to Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks could be opened to new mining claims with the stroke of a pen. Closed to mining since 1971, these wild Alaska lands are integral to Bristol Bay’s salmon-supporting ecosystem that is anchored by these two grand national parks.
A recommendation from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to lift this mineral closure and expand a modern day gold rush was issued in the last days of the Bush Administration and we need your help to send this bad idea back to the drawing board.”
July 30th, 2009 at 1:20 PM
post these web sites where ever you can, get the word out to fight this monstrosity.
http://www.stoppebblemine.com/
“Stop Pebble Mine is a group of individuals that have a stake in the Bristol Bay Region that want to preserve the pristine beauty and vast wilderness where the proposed Pebble Mine is to be placed.”
July 30th, 2009 at 1:29 PM
Okay, I know on so many rational levels why this is wrong, wrong, wrong. I think most of us appreciate beauty and nature and think especially fondly of what we envision is the pristine part of Alaska–away from the duct tape (LOL).
But I also have a practical question: will Alaskans share in the taking of this particular natural resource as they do with oil and natural gas. I’s really like to know the answer to that.
July 30th, 2009 at 1:31 PM
Cassie JPP–not so much, as the royalty % on mining is much lower than the one on oil and gas. I think there was some move to update the law last Session, but I’m not sure if it got anywhere. Would take more research…
July 30th, 2009 at 1:32 PM
I’s=I’d
Becasue if not, couldn’t that be a reason to stop the effort? Theft of a natural resource from the citizenry of Alaska?
July 30th, 2009 at 1:33 PM
Thanks, Injuneau..I’ll do some skulking, too.
July 30th, 2009 at 1:57 PM
This relates to Pebble or any other area with potential for toxic disasters, grrrrr. There is absolutely NO reason to trust anything Scarah says. It’s all just cheap talk. This one happened on HER watch, she failed to do much to protect the waters then, why should anyone believe she gives one hoot about clean water, it’s not fiscal to respond to disasters. GAH!
At least this guy brought it out into the open.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/2009/jul/30/department-environmental-conservation-quits-citing/
“Other sections of DEC did very well, but the spill response group was miserable,” Meggert said. “The system absolutely broke down, and the worst part of it was the money situation.”
Channels to tap into emergency funds and cut deals with contractors more or less closed, he said. Meggert was challenged to convince people in DEC that an emergency existed, yet he’s authorized to push the responders into emergency mode as incident commander.
Those in charge of opening funds “did nothing but throw roadblocks up,” Meggert said.
“Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong,” Meggert said. “Nobody else viewed this as a disaster, except us (Meggert and another employee). I’ve been through numerous floods, the earthquake. I have done this before, and I have never seen a cluster like this before.”
July 30th, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Cassie, here is the answer to your question…….from the Stop Pebble Mine web site I posted above. The main ploy to get this flying is jobs, working for the devil.
“Pebble Mine location
The proposed Pebble Mine will be located on state of Alaska lands, not lands owned by Bristol Bay Native Corporation.
The profits from the development of the mine will not directly benefit Alaska Native shareholders from the region.
The profits from the development of the mine will not profit Native Corporations in a way that profits from the development of Red Dog mine are profiting NANA Regional Corporation and other Alaska Native corporations through 7i profit sharing.
The only benefits to Alaska Native shareholders statewide will be potiential jobs that will be created. Not like the millions of dollars will be shared by Red Dog Mine and the potential Donlin Creek mine in the Calista region.
The tax rate for mining in Alaska is so low that there will be little benefit to residents of Alaska.
Jobs is the main selling point of the mine development. I can tell you I don’t plan on quiting my job to take a mine job. There are many good jobs on the slope. How many of those are held by people living in Barrow?”
July 30th, 2009 at 2:33 PM
more good Pebble Mine info……
http://www.flyfisherman.com/alaska/jrpebble/
“The Pebble is the tip of the iceberg here. New mining claims in the Pebble region in the past 12 months total some 1,000 square miles of state land. The 3.5 million acres of BLM lands, if opened to hard-rock mining, would be in addition to that. If this Pandora’s box is opened, we could be looking at a major industrial mining complex with many heap-leach and other operations, a complex of roads and all the industrial/environmental threats that accompany such developments.
“This is the single most important environmental challenge facing fisheries today if you are a sport fisherman. The Teddy Roosevelt tradition is on the line: We are being presented a choice–wild fisheries and wildlife or gold. We cannot have both.
“Ironically, (Alaska) Gov. Murkowski worked with the mining companies to change a state law that forbids dumping mine wastes in salmon and trout spawning streams. The new regulations would allow dumping of mine wastes into those streams to create “mixing zones.” If that happens, all the Bristol Bay waters would potentially be open to mine wastes.”
July 30th, 2009 at 2:45 PM
I recall watching a video a number of times by Dennis Zaki on the Alaska Report site wherein there was the discussion about some chemical that was being used on the equipment and the company representative had no idea what the chemical compound was. He said they had stopped using it at that time but they had used it before and he didn’t see a problem with it. There was no indication on the WHMIS sheets as to how the toxicity would affect fish.
They had been using the chemical up until I guess they were challenged by someone. Shows how they didn’t research it completely.
I just checked Alaska Report site and can’t find the vid.
July 30th, 2009 at 2:59 PM
Found the video re my comment #68 –
http://www.vimeo.com/5035268
Safe for humans but no idea re fish. MSDS sheets indicate no info.
If they didn’t research this one, and they are using something else, how much research did they do???
July 30th, 2009 at 3:22 PM
Renewable Resources Coalition is looking for volunteers for 2 upcoming events, I don’t see it on their web site yet, it was in an email I recieved yesterday.
I’d help if I lived in AK, it sounds like fun.
Renewable Energy Fair – Aug. 1 @ Delany Parkstrip (need one or two people to help staff a booth, good for newbee’s)
Alaska State Fair – Aug. 30 – (free admission and parking) Wild Salmon Day, promoting Salmon as a renewable resource. 5 booths, they need lots of help.
Also help needed for State Fair RRC booth, Aug. 27- Sept.7 (free admission and parking)
New Volunteer Orientaion Aug. 15, 10:00 am, RRC office, 605 W.2nd ave. Anchorage
email……Erika @ twoalaskarivers@gmail.com
http://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/action_center.htm
July 30th, 2009 at 3:27 PM
Would some kind soul post the links I’ve been putting up on AKM’s Huffpo article comment area. I’m not at home and don’t have my Huffpo sign in info. Thank you! The world needs to know about this stuff.
http://hooknbullet.org/study.htm
“NEW SCIENTIFIC REPORT REVEALS WIDESPREAD FAILURE TO KEEP MINES FROM POLLUTING WATER
Regulatory and scientific failures in mine permitting result in widespread water pollution, increased public health risks, and costly taxpayer-funded cleanups
Anchorage, AK- New scientific research unveiled today finds that faulty water quality predictions, mitigation measures and regulatory failures result in the approval of mines that create significant water pollution problems. Despite assurances from government regulators and mine proponents that mines would not pollute clean water, researchers found that 76 percent of studied mines exceeded water quality standards, polluting rivers, and groundwater with toxic contaminants, such as lead, mercury, arsenic and cyanide, and exposing taxpayers to huge cleanup liabilities. The research, released by Washington, DC-based conservation group EARTHWORKS and Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of Our Land), has major implications for the proposed Pebble Mine.”
July 30th, 2009 at 3:30 PM
last post……gotta run to the store, then visit friends. ta ta
http://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/pdf_files/TraskyForWeb.pdf
The Myth of the “Rigorous Permitting Process”
The following testimony by Lance Trasky, former Alaska Department of Fish and Game Habitat Division Regional Supervisor for Bristol Bay, dispels the myth of the rigorous permitting process and is required reading for all Alaskans concerned with the future of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery. This testimony, reprinted her by permission of the author is proof that the permitting process is broken and in dire need of improvement.
July 30th, 2009 at 3:55 PM
I’ve not left yet, I came across a really neat web site. I think all the Mudpups will appreciate it. This gal is young and brilliant!
http://www.aktrekking.com/pebble/about.html
“I got involved in the Pebble issue in 2005, when I read a brief article about it in the New York Times. I am a confirmed addict of the Alaskan backcountry, and with my husband I have hiked about 3000 miles of it over the past seven years. See my Alaska Trips. Southwest Alaska has been my favorite place on earth since 2001, when I first hiked down the Alaska Peninsula. When I started reading about the Pebble Mine project, I was dismayed to find that it was getting much less attention than such an enormous project deserved. And for those of us who don’t live there it was very difficult to find any pictures or any information on what this remote region was actually like. So I decided to go out and rectify the situation. I took a six day photography trip to the region in August 2005. And in June 2006, I took a month-long journey by foot and raft through the 500 miles of watersheds downstream of the proposed mine. You can find stories and photos from those trips. I have also researched and compiled an extensive set of facts on the Pebble project, and written articles on a few key issues.
In January 2008 I will return to the Pebble Valley and follow the proposed route of the mine road to Cook Inlet, as part of a four-thousand-mile expedition: Journey on the Wild Coast.”
July 30th, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Say NO to Palin in Politics
—————————————————————-
Thank you…thank you. Much food for thought!
July 30th, 2009 at 10:05 PM
Interesting stuff. Here’s some thoughts.
Line items in the state’s computation of costs of “frivolous” ethics complaints include:
Water quality initiatives: $12,747
Litigation – ACW (AK Clean Water): $23,924
The explanation is “66 Attorney Hours” and “139.5 Paralegal Hours”. 205.5 man hours at a cost $116.42/hour.
So what was that? What did they do? We don’t know for sure, because it’s not really explained. But we can guess that it’s about the Alaska Clean Water Act (2008), Ballot Measure 4.
Here’s an accurate and succinct excerpt from grist.com in August 2008:
Mining vs. salmon
Palin has come into criticism recently for using her post as governor to influence a ballot initiative on clean water, which voters also rejected last week. “Proposition 4″ would have prohibited or restricted new mining operations that could affect salmon in the state’s streams and rivers, and was crafted in order to prevent the development of the Pebble Mine, which if approved would be the largest open-pit gold and copper mine in North America. Toxic runoff from the mine would threaten the Bristol Bay ecosystem, and put drinking water at risk. It is widely opposed by commercial fishers, native populations, and environmentalists in the state. While state regulatory agencies will get the final say on granting permits for the mine, the initiative would have made it considerably harder to move forward.
Just days before the vote on the ballot initiative, Palin stated publicly that she opposed it. “Let me take my governor’s hat off just for a minute here and tell you, personally, Prop. 4, I vote no on that,” she said. Groups that supported the measure argued that Palin’s comments were highly unethical. They also filed a legal complaint against the state government for improperly weighing in against Prop. 4 on the state’s website.
The Alaska Public Offices Commission ordered the state to take down the questionable web content, but said Palin’s public statement was permissible because she made it clear it was her personal opinion. Polls before her statement showed voters strongly in favor of the measure, but in the end nearly 60 percent of the public voted against it.
“Conventional wisdom around here is that [her statement] changed the tide on the proposition, from narrowly passing to being defeated,” said Van Tuyn.
I don’t characterize this as “frivolous”. She DID do something wrong – it was not intangible or difficult to determine, it was right out in the open – but the State of Alaska chose to let her.
At some point, it stops being about Sarah’s accountability, and becomes the State of Alaska leadership and administrators’ accountability. Are we there yet?
The State of Alaska promotes itself in a neutral stewardship role of Alaska’s resources on behalf of its citizens, and yet empirical evidence strongly suggests an interest in the development of the Pebble Mine.
What is that interest? We don’t know. The citizens of this state, the “owners” of this resource have an unequivocable right to know.
The state can support this project if it so chooses. But I want to know why. Instead of sneaky opposition to its citizens and attempting prejudicial action, the state might consider lining up its argument and making a case in clear, factual, meaningful terms and provide real information.
JOBS – The only ‘carrot’ that I’ve seen published is that it will create jobs for the region’s villages. Okay. What KIND of jobs?
What they mean, is that they need unskilled labor. They need kitchen help, maids, bucket-carriers and shovel-handlers. They need people to clean toliets and do the laundry. They’ll import the other positions. They do now.
Employment with Pebble Mine does not mean management or skilled positions. Technology, computers, administration, accounting, technical skills, surveying, carpentry, geology, engineering – all of those roles will be filled from elsewhere.
Not a good enough reason to dig an open-pit mine.
Here’s some recent information from a conversation yesterday:
“The important point is that the cave walls and open pit walls act as an interface for water, sulfide and air. It is the actual hole in the ground that creates ‘acid mine drainage’, as much OR MORE than the waste rock. The ore has sulfide and the surrounding rock (host rock) has sulfide, too.
Removing the mining waste, tailings, etc. and taking it off-site, will NOT solve acid mine drainage issues. Underground mines are as much, OR MORE, of a risk for AMD as open-pit mines.”
Here’s the explanation:
“Thank you for forwarding this about the disastrous proposal for a Pebble Metallic Sulfide Mining District in the Alaska Peninsula. I have very limited time to respond, but I hope this helps.
First, congratulations for grasping, and beginning to publicize the existence of, and the environmental dangers posed by SULFIDES, in the proposed Pebble project.
It is easy to briefly and accurately describe the dangers posed by metallic sulfide mining so that anyone can understand it, as follows:
A solid rock about the size of a softball has an exposed surface area that is several square inches. It will dissolve in water very, very slowly, and any chemical reactions involving the rock will proceed very slowly.
If that same rock is pulverized, the exposed surface area becomes measured in acres, not inches. And chemical reactions involving the rock will proceed relatively quickly.
When sulfide bearing ores are locked up in solid rock under ground, the sulfide weathers very slowly, if at all and usually poses no danger.
However, when the ore body is mined, the sulfide bearing rock is crushed and even pulverized. When crushed sulfide rock is exposed to oxygen (air) and H2O (water), the automatic, inevitable chemical reaction produces sulfuric acid. Massive quantities of sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is the same stuff used in vehicle starting batteries.
The amount of acid produced depends on how much sulfide is there, and whether it is exposed to air and water. It doesn’t depend on the percentage of sulfide. It depends on the total quantity of sulfide in the exposed, crushed rock.
The sulfuric acid itself presents immediate toxic dangers to the watershed. And it also dissolves toxic heavy metals, which present their own dangers.
That’s it, in a nutshell. Do not let up educating people about the dangers of metallic sulfide mining. And keep saying SULFIDE whenever you say mining and Pebble.
The Wisconsin Metallic Sulfide Mining Moratorium Law…the law was passed by the state legislature, and signed by then-Governor Thompson.
The law, however, was the culmination of a hard fought struggle between the grass-roots coalition (of Native Americans, sports hunters and fishermen’s organizations, local and national environmental groups, labor unions, scientists and engineers, and tourist and outdoor sports related business) on the one hand, and the multi-national mining corporation lobbyists, on the other hand.
The effort to pass this law was inspired by a local school teacher who realized, from her research, that there had NEVER been a mine in a metallic sulfide ore body that had NOT resulted in severe toxic pollution. And so the coalition began to press for a bill that would prohibit ANY mine proposed for a metallic sulfide ore body from being permitted in Wisconsin unless the industry could show ONE suitable example of such a mine that had been operated for ten years, AND closed for ten years, that had not caused toxic pollution harmful to the watershed and the environment.
The industry lobbyists had lots of power, and lots of connections, and lots of money to distribute. Although they were unable to prevent the Metallic Sulfide Moratorium from becoming law, they were able to twist and subvert some of the language. One thing they did was change some of the original intent described in the paragraph above by changing a word at the last minute on the floor of the legislature. That little word change had the effect of letting the industry use two DIFFERENT mines as examples for the requirement that a mine had to have operated for at least ten years and been closed for at least ten years to qualify for review. The industry lobbyists snuck that little wording change into the proposed bill at the last minute because they knew a law was about to be signed, and they knew there was NO METAL SULFIDE MINE IN THE WORLD that could meet that criterion.
So, you see that the two conditions you so clearly highlighted in Wisconsin’s Moratorium Law were actually the result of last minute dirty tricks the industry lawyer/lobbyists pulled to help them make a loophole for themselves. (Despite this, they could not even later come up with examples that would fit through their own contrived loophole.)
The most important benefit of the metal sulfide mining moratorium struggle was how useful it was in educating so many Wisconsinites, in a relatively short time, of the specific, easily understood dangers of metal sulfide mining.
I hope you find this useful. I also have an article, titled “The 21rst Century Bite of the Gold Bug”, on my blog, which you might find interesting and also ominous. The future of high tech metal sulfide mining may not be so far in the future, and indications are that it may likely include on-site use of genetically modified organisms to cut processing costs lower, and increase profits.
The article is easily accessed by clicking on the category “Mining” when you link to my blog. clydewinter.wordpress.com
One last point, it appears to me (and it should be confirmed, as is important) that not only is the ore body of the Pebble deposit a sulfide ore, but the host rock itself is also sulfide-bearing.”
July 30th, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Felt Soul Media spent Summer 2007 in Alaska’s Bristol Bay following the world’s largest run of sockeye salmon. Patagonia official sponsor.
Red Gold An hour-long documentary, a fabulous dramatic watch, even if you have no interest in the subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbnMNp4i_qM&feature=related
Audience Choice and Director’s Award, Mountainfilm in Telluride, Colorado
Audience Choice, Banff Mountain Film Festival, Canada
Best of Festival, Ellensburg Film Festival, Washington
Cinematic Excellence, Newburyport Documentary Film Festival, Massachussetts
Best Environmental Film, Taos Mountain Film Festival, New Mexico
Best Environmental Film, Kendal Mountain Film Festival, United Kingdom
Big Sky Award, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Missoula, Montana
Best Environmental Film, Vancouver
Red Gold is currently touring with Telluride Mountainfilm on Tour, Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour and the Wild & Scenic Tour. Check their events calendars for potential screenings near you.
Email emilylong@feltsoulmedia.com for more information about screenings in your area, or to host a screening.
July 31st, 2009 at 1:12 PM
AKM-
I’m very proud of these Alaskan neighbors.
We are overdue for a full and complete re-hash of what the state constitution can be said to mean as regarding the benefit-for-all language.
Somebody here said something about only menial jobs being available for locals… that is not really true- AK has voc-techincal schools for mining …
It is more important that most of the money flowing into rural Alaska flows right back out PDQ and this mine wouldn’t be different .
We must support the ideas and activities which allow rural neighbors to thumb THEIR noses at projects like this . We cannot ask them to stay poor so others may enjoy the scenery which is what the mining corp folks would have locals believe…
We HAVE to have investment in sustainable activites in rural Alaska and enough infrastructure to support those activiites.
The foregone fish an or on-limit problems in Bristol Bay are affecting folks’ ability to fish commercially and provide themselves with the cash they need to buy food and fuel. the fish bigwigs cal ita small problem but when you earn your full years dollars in a few weeks it is NOT a small problem…
July 31st, 2009 at 1:13 PM
oh fooey-
please excuse the typos and spellos @ 77 .
I got kind of overexcited there…
July 31st, 2009 at 7:06 PM
Alaska Pi: “Somebody here said something about only menial jobs being available for locals… that is not really true- AK has voc-techincal schools for mining …”
That’s true. There are engineering and petroleum industry training programs at University of Alaska. Have been for a looong time. Since 1922, when UAF was founded as the Alaska Agriculture College and School of Mines.
So? What does that have to do with the type of jobs Pebble Mine is suggesting will be available to the region’s villages?
We know from 50 years of Alaska business practice, that when companies go in to deliver projects – construction, oil, whatever – they need locals to cook, housekeep and clean toilets. Everybody else, they bring in and hire out of an Anchorage office.
August 1st, 2009 at 10:05 AM
@79 CG -
Here in SE Ak there is an actual hard rock mining curriculum…
Folks who are taking/have taken it with an eye to Kensington opening are looking north to Pebble as well…
Of course locals end up with the piddly jobs in great numbers… wasn’t disputing that… merely pointing to the EXPECTATIONS locals around mining projects now have… whether reality lies closer to “Everybody else, they bring in and hire out of an Anchorage office.’
August 1st, 2009 at 10:29 AM
To supplement the information provided by CG @ 75, this link is to the site Pitwatch, and has information about he Berkeley open pit in Butte, MT. The realities of the Berkeley pit are horrific – such as its 2.5 pH and its dissolved metals content being so high that the water in the pit is now being used as a source for “mining” the dissolved metals from the walls of the pit. It is one of the nation’s biggest Superfund cleanup sites – another example of the mining industry’s socialized costs. This is not the result of any major miscalculation of accident – this is simply what mines do due to the earth’s natural chemistry.
http://www.pitwatch.org/news.htm
August 1st, 2009 at 11:11 AM
An aerial photo of the Berkeley pit in Butte, MT. The pit is approx 1 mile long and ½ mile wide. The water level in the pit is constantly rising (it is currently almost 1,000′ deep), and is forecast to reach the level of the local water table in 2020. Since the water in the pit is essentially one very large sulfuric acid bath (pH 2.5), as it enters the aquifers, they will of course become unusable not only due to the acidity, but the concentration of dissolved metals in the aquifers will be equal to the levels in the water entering from the pit plus the amount additionally dissolved by the acidic water inside the aquifers. I think we need to add the word half-life to our discussions of mines to drive the point home that no mine is finished wreaking environmental havoc when active mining ceases. Ironically, they tend to become bigger problems after mining ceases b/c water is allowed to accumulate in them. Based on the track record of every open pit mine that has ever been excavated, there does not appear to be any way that Pebble Mine does not inevitably define the end of the Bristol Bay fishery. And Pebble is just the beginning – there are several more equally large claims filed on State land in the same area.
http://www.scenicsantaritas.org/photos/butte_BerkeleyPit.jpg
August 1st, 2009 at 11:44 AM
“Of course locals end up with the piddly jobs in great numbers… wasn’t disputing that”
Yeah. You were. Here’s what you said: “only menial jobs being available for locals… that is not really true”
Let’s recap and see if we can see the point –
WHY do we want to develop the largest open-pit copper mine in North America (maybe in the world) in Bristol Bay, the world’s largest salmon-spawning watershed?
~ Because it’s an economic opportunity for a region dealing with financial hardship, a flat economy, reduced cash value to commercial fishermen for their fish, and the high costs of gasoline and heating fuel.
~ Because it’s financially lucrative for the State of Alaska.
HOW is it an economic opportunity?
~ It’ll create jobs for locals.
~ What’s in it for the state: we don’t know. There has been no factual case offered to Alaska citizens or the regions residents on how it benefits the State. Taxes? Royalties? Don’t know. How much? When? Don’t know. Somebody, anybody, tell us.
The JOBS – well, gosh. Those Bristol Bay villagers need to position themselves to take advantage of that opportunity. They need to think ahead. Move to an urban area (Anchorage, southeast Alaska, Kenai, Fairbanks, Colorado, etc.) to get some training, skills and geology and engineering degrees. If they can’t get a job at Pebble, they can still get a job somewhere else.
JOBS?
Director of Site Operations. No, sorry, that’s taken. It’s Gernot Wober, professional geologist, Manager of Technical Operations for Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., previous Vice President of Exploration for Great Basin Gold Ltd., managed exploration projects from British Columbia to South Africa.
Before that it was filled by Lena BrommelandManger Lands/Technical Services at Hunter Dickinson,Vancouver, Canada.
Public Affairs. Nope, sorry. We’re not recruiting, but we’ll keep your application on file. We brought Mike Heatwole in from eight years as Director of Corporate Communications for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. Before that he was a legislative aide at the federal and state levels, managed electoral campaigns, provided corporate communication consulting services to Alaska companies. He’s a board member of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce and the Alaska Mineral and Energy Resource Education Fund.
Other senior management postions, you ask? Those positions are filled.
Mid-level administration? Well, no. There’s a huge pool of credentialed career industry professionals to draw from, none of whom are “local”.
And if you did get hired by some miracle, you’d have to move to Anchorage, wouldn’t you. You’re not going to be working out of corporate offices in Bristol Bay, are you?
From Pebble’s own presentation materials, 1003 employees in 2007:
Alaskan 544
Local 119
US 243
Canada 83
“Other” 14
34% of employees are not Alaskan.
88% are not local.
12% are local.
Here’s what’s even funnier – I could not find even ONE open job solicitation on-line, for Pebble Mine employment. NOT ONE.
August 1st, 2009 at 2:37 PM
@83 CG-
I fail to understand what you are so irritated at- though reflecting on my original comment I see a mid-stream of thought sloppiness on my part.
So, to be direct-
1- IN NO WAY OR FORM DO I SUPPORT THE PEBBLE MINE PROJECT.
2- That area is the hereditary home of my mother’s people . I care about what happens there even though I live in SE AK.
3- REGARDLESS of what the facts about what the mine are, people there are hurting economoically and are being lured by promises of jobs- whether in the mine itself or in support services. It does NOT matter, at this point, whether the jobs exist- or might.
4- They are also under a constant barrage of negative rumor/flatout lie rumor mongering about how ‘environmentalists just want to lock up everything so they can kayak and enjoy the view”
5-It is imperative that people there are supported in endeavours to make a living OTHER than in mining .
Processor capability during the summer is flat and folks are left with the foregone fish problem or being on-limit at the peak of fish runs far too often. Friends in the area say it has to do with inadequate tender capabilty at times, fewer seasonal processing sites open due to high cost of running them for a few weeks a year, and so on.
Folks have a few short weeks to make their entire year’s earnings in the smaller villages…
We cannot just talk about saving Bristol Bay for the fish, we have to support the fish industry as well . ( I in no way mean the large corp fish industry either… )
5- I am very excited about this suit and HOPE it is the beginning of a new way of looking at resources in relation to each other here in Alaska.
I worry that we, as a state, are not yet ready to really face what we lose if Pebble happens even though some neighbors obviously have in filing this suit.
6- I want to see us figure out how to keep way more of the $$ flowing into ALL of rural Alaska IN rural Alaska.
This snippet from the report found at the First Alaskans Institute points to the sieve that is rural AK’s money situation.
Whether dirty-gold Pebble joins the leach-resources-and-money lineup in rural AK ( I sure hope not ! ) or not , the fact remains that people who are trying to make a living out there ARE buying the bs from mining and/or factory fishing giants because WE have not supported them as neighbors who should have transportation interties, basic infrastructure, PRIORITY for alternative energy projects and so many other things…
http://www.firstalaskans.org/documents_fai/Remoteruralfinal2.pdf
“Money Doesn’t Stick
Figure 16 helps explain why the remote economy doesn’t produce enough jobs for residents. It estimates cash either flowing into or generated in the region in 2006—and it shows that most cash generated in remote areas never influences the local economy at all. And of the cash that does flow into the economy, a big share doesn’t stick around. The flows are approximations, based on limited data.• Nearly $18.5 billion was either generated in or flowed into remote areas in 2006, but only $2.35 billion entered the local economy. The rest went directly to other areas for producer profits; purchases of labor, supplies, and services; and federal and state taxes and royalties.• Of the $2.35 billion that did go into the local economy in 2006, $1 billion quickly leaked out again, because: (1) the many non-residents working in remote areas take their paychecks home when they leave, and (2) resident households and businesses can’t or won’t buy many things locally—and therefore spend money outside the region.’
August 1st, 2009 at 9:11 PM
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