Coeur celebrates Kensington court ruling

The president and CEO of Idaho-based Coeur d'Alene Mines has been in Alaska to thank Gov. Frank Murkowski and his administration for their help in staving off a lawsuit that had been threatening the Kensington project near Juneau. Dennis Wheeler attended a press conference with Murkowski in Anchorage Aug. 7 and promised that his company would proceed with construction of the gold mine.

U.S. District Judge James Singleton dismissed a lawsuit in early August that had been brought by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, the Sierra Club and Lynn Canal Conservation. The environmental organizations were suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service over the Corps' decision to issue a 404 permit for disposal of tailings in Lower Slate Lake.

The State of Alaska intervened in the lawsuit in support of the Corps of Engineers. Without the support of the Murkowski administration, the Kensington project could not have gone forward, Wheeler said at the press conference. Coeur d'Alene spent almost a year trying to negotiate with the environmentalists, but these efforts were futile, according to Wheeler. "In my judgment they had no intention of entering into a collaborative process that resulted in a constructive end for the benefit of the people of Alaska, and they chose instead to file suit," he said.

"I would genuinely be hopeful that the plaintiffs would now take a step back ... and recognize that they've had another day in court, the ruling has gone against them, and they should be sitting down at the table on behalf of all Alaskans to again attempt to settle this in a responsible manner for the benefit of the state," Wheeler said. The environmental organizations immediately announced that they would appeal Judge Singleton's decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Governor: groups opposed to mining

"I would hope this would be the end of litigation, but what happened here is the Sierra Club, the Southeast Conservation Council and the Lynn Canal Conservation groups, as near as I can tell really want to make sure mining doesn't occur in southeastern Alaska, and for that matter anywhere in the State of Alaska," Murkowski said. The dismissal of the lawsuit is "a major milestone in advancing mining in Alaska," he added. "If this project had been thwarted and stopped by an environmental group, it would have clearly terminated any future major mines being developed in the state of Alaska."

The plaintiffs in the Kensington case and other interested parties have worked to portray the case as a precedent-setter that could also apply to other projects, such as the Pebble copper-gold project in southwest Alaska's Bristol Bay region. "If the Kensington mine goes forward as planned, it will help pave the way for Pebble to dump its waste in waters we use for fishing. The outcome could put our clean water and subsistence at risk," said Bobby Andrew of the Native non-profit organization Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of our Lands) in Dillingham.

Kensington will be a gold mine producing an estimated 100,000 ounces of gold annually when it begins operations next year. Coeur Alaska's 404 permit allows the mine to discharge approximately 210,000 gallons of tailings per day into Lower Slate Lake. The lake will be used as a storage facility impounding the tailings. After mine closure and reclamation, in about 14 years' time, the lake will have expanded to approximately 62 acres from its current size of 23 acres. The discharge of tailings to the lake impoundment is limited to the pre-specified volume of 4.5 million tons.

Tests on the tailings show that they will not generate an acid discharge or metals leachate. Although most aquatic life in Lower Slate Lake will be lost during mining operations, it is expected that the lake will recover over time to provide habitat for Dolly Varden char and other aquatic organisms.

"Congress has deemed it appropriate to delegate to the Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of the Army to coordinate their respective jurisdictions under the Clean Water Act," Judge Singleton wrote in his ruling. "This they have done by duly adopted regulations to which this Court must defer. The Corps properly issued the permit to Coeur Alaska, Inc. under (section) 404 of the Clean Water Act."