Governor Sean Parnell Supports Destruction of Thriving Salmon Habitat for Coal
Mudflats readers will remember coverage over the last year of the issue of the “Unsuitable Lands Petition” that Cook Inletkeeper and the Chuitna Citizens Coalition submitted to the state. Basically, what this petition did was to put forth the idea that certain areas are just plain unsuitable for coal strip mining – specifically the areas directly on either side of the Chuit River (above), and its tributaries that were deemed “important salmon habitat” for Cook Inlet. The petition, if successful, would ensure that a narrow ribbon of land – 50 feet on either side of tributaries, and 100 feet on…
Open Thread – Duck Shack
A duck shack on the Susitna flats – incredibly beautiful and prolific wetlands near the site of the proposed Chuitna Coal strip mine on the West side of Cook Inlet, about 40 miles from Anchorage.
Chuitna Coal – Dollars and Sense
It’s time for a little Mudflats Theatre. But this time, you get to participate in the drama! It’s kind of like an improvisation. Let’s pretend we’re doing a business deal. We sit down in a conference room overlooking majestic Cook Inlet, which borders the city of Anchorage. You arrive, we shake hands, and close the door. You’re on one side of the table, and I’m on the other. We lock eyes for a moment, and then mine dart down to a yellow legal pad in front of me, upon which numbers have been scrawled. I look back up at you…
A Lawsuit in Gov. Sean Parnell’s Future? Stonewalling Angers Anti-Coal Groups.
~The mouth of the Chuit River, between Tyonek and Beluga, Alaska Remember, way back last year when I rode a bus in a snowstorm to go hear testimony in Kenai? It was all about whether to designate the land around the Chuit River “unsuitable” for coal mining. The way it stands now, PacRim Coal plans to (for the first time ever) actually dig up eleven miles of productive salmon stream for a giant open pit coal mine. “Don’t worry,” they say. “We’ll just put it back the way it was when we’re done.” Well, it doesn’t take a biologist to…
Open Thread – Coal Country
Here’s one not to miss if you are in town. The Mat Valley Coalition is having a free screening of “Coal Country,” a film about the effects of coal mining on communities and property values. This is an issue vital to Alaskans and those in other coal-bearing states. A recent victory in Chickaloon should not lull us into complacency. The specter of the development of the Chuitna Coal Project looms over Anchorage. Even scarier than those Russians rearing their heads. ~A River near the proposed site of the Chuitna Coal Mine
Oyster Roundup!
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Chuitna Coal Comment Period Extended The comment period for the petition to make the Chuit River and its tributaries declared unsuitable for coal strip mining has been extended! That means if you had all the best intentions of emailing and saying, “I think it’s a really bad idea to dig up 11 miles of productive salmon stream for your crappy coal mine” and just didn’t get around to it, you have another chance! The new deadline is tomorrow, February 2, at 5pm so click HERE and jot…
Chuitna Coal Hearing in Kenai Draws a Crowd (updated*)
*A little episode of premature posting. All photos are now here. The “Magic Bus” pulled out of the parking lot in midtown Anchorage packed to the gunwales. People came out on a weekday evening, with the threat of an impending blizzard in Turnagain Pass, knowing they wouldn’t be home until well after midnight, to give public testimony on an issue that will impact every Alaskan, and that most have never heard of. Despite the fact that the specific project addressed by this petition is across Cook Inlet, and local residents of the area only amount to a couple hundred, the ramifications…
Oyster Roundup!
~Thick and fast they came at last and more, and more, and more! The Magic Bus Yes, that’s really the name of the bus that will be taking people to Kenai tomorrow to testify at the one and only public hearing regarding the proposed Pac-Rim Chuitna coal project. For those not going on the bus (leaving Midtown Sagaya at 1:15pm), you can submit your comments to: russell.kirkham@alaska.gov but it MUST be done by 5pm on Wednesday, January 19. You don’t need to know every little detail to make your feelings known. All you have to know is that there ought to be…
Voices from the Flats – Citizens Speak Out for Salmon Over Coal
~The mouth of the Chuitna River where 7 million gallons/day of mine waste would pour into Cook Inlet every day, right across from Anchorage, if the Chuitna Coal project goes through. By Bill Sherwonit I wish to add my voice, again, to the many and diverse Alaskans who oppose the destruction of a Cook Inlet salmon stream for the sake of a coal mine. And I urge other Alaskans to join the effort to stop the proposed Chuitna coal strip mine, by either attending a public hearing in Kenai on Jan. 19, or by sending comments to the state’s Department…