Pebble opponents seek river protections

Environmental groups are pushing for special protection of watersheds near the enormous Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit, which, according to the most recent estimate by the Pebble Partnership, contains around 80.6 billion pounds of copper, 107.4 million troy ounces of gold and 5.6 billion pounds of molybdenum.

The Pebble Partnership is equally owned by the London-based global miner Anglo American plc and the Vancouver British Columbia-based junior explorer Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

While many of the local residents anticipate the jobs and economic opportunities a large mine would bring to Southwest Alaska, anti-Pebble groups contend that mining the enormous resource would endanger the water quality of salmon and trout streams in the Bristol Bay region.

The environmental groups have asked the State of Alaska to add special protections for the watersheds of Bristol Bay, possibly in the form of a state fish refuge in the area. They also have nominated the Koktuli River as an Outstanding National Resource Water, a designation under the U.S. Clean Water Act that aims to protect high-quality waters for existing uses.

Proposal 13

In December a group, composed mostly of fishermen and fishing lodge owners, pitched Proposal 13 to the Alaska Board of Fisheries. The proposal requests extra protection for the Nushagak and Kvichak river drainages, possibly in the form of a state fish refuge that would blanket the Bristol Bay watersheds, including streams near the Pebble Project.

After listening to five hours of testimony, the Fisheries Board rejected the idea of establishing a fish refuge. Instead, the fisheries panel opted to send a letter to the state Legislature, asking it to determine whether additional protections are needed to protect the fisheries.

After wrangling over the wording, the board completed the letter two months later. The February letter requests that lawmakers "conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the permitting protections and standards, including regulations and statutes, which provide safeguards against environmental damage."

The fisheries board further requested that on completion of the evaluation, the legislative bodies enact any additional safeguards needed to protect fish and game habitat in the region.

The letter also noted that the state's regulatory agencies need the financial means to monitor and enforce permitting standards.

Highest protections for Koktuli

Environmental groups also have asked that one river near the Pebble project receive the highest protection available under U.S. law.

Trout Unlimited and a group of partner organizations on Feb. 17 nominated the Koktuli River as an Outstanding National Resource Water, a designation under the Clean Water Act that aims to protect high-quality waters for existing uses.

The headwaters of the Koktuli River, a tributary to the Nushagak River, are near the Pebble deposit.

If a river or stream is designated as an Outstanding National Resource Water, no new or increased pollution discharges can occur within that body of water. Additionally, no new or increased discharges can occur in any tributary if it results in lower water quality in the designated river or stream.

Trout Unlimited said the main goal of designating the Koktuli as an Outstanding National Resource Water is to make sure that the development of any large-scale metallic sulfide mine will not cause any direct, indirect or cumulative adverse effects on the river's wild salmon or rainbow trout, and the main industries and activities these fish support.

The designations are enacted under the anti-degradation provisions of the Clean Water Act, which says Outstanding National Resource Waters can be designated "where high quality waters constitute an outstanding national resource, such as waters of national and state parks and wildlife refuges and waters of exceptional recreational or ecological significance."

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is charged with overseeing Alaska's anti-degradation policies, including identifying Outstanding National Resource Waters with input from the public.

According to DEC, no waters in Alaska have been designated with this highest level of protection.

Unauthorized water use

Environmental groups are using a recent incident in which the Pebble Partnership turned itself in for unpermitted water use as ammunition in their fight to gain special protections for Bristol Bay watersheds.

"Our nomination is especially timely in light of the recent water permit violations by the Pebble Partnership, which is planning to develop a huge open-pit mine near the Koktuli," said Tim Bristol, director of Trout Unlimited in Alaska.

The Pebble Partnership reported to state authorities in November that its drill crews inadvertently withdrew water from unauthorized sources during the 2009 exploration season.

The Pebble explorer said field crews used the geographical areas outlined by the company's fish habitat permits to source water for the drills, instead of the narrower geographical range of the temporary water use permits.

"Site personnel mistakenly believed these fish habitat permits had been issued to coordinate with the (temporary water use permits)," Pebble Partnership Vice President, Environment Ken Taylor wrote to DNR.

Upon further investigation, DNR discovered a total of 45 similar incidents over three years of drilling. The regulatory agency said all other environmental protocols were followed and the company would likely have been granted permits if they had been sought; nevertheless the Pebble explorer was fined US$45,000 for the transgressions.

"Pebble's actions are, at a minimum a trespass against the state's property and resource interests. Although it does not appear that any environmental damage occurred as a result of these violations, the state's ownership and management interests in state resources were nevertheless damaged by Pebble's trespass," wrote Dick Mylius, DNR Division of Mining, Land and Water's director. "While we appreciate Pebble's candor in coming forward with information concerning these violations, steps must be taken to protect the state and its resources and avoid future violations."

In addition to the fine, the state has required the Pebble Partnership to provide a detailed water withdrawal plan that assures all water sources used are properly permitted, and to hire a compliance officer who will be responsible for confirming that all future water withdrawals are properly permitted. The Pebble Partnership agreed to these conditions and said it hired a new environmental site coordinator. The company is also developing a plan to coordinate staff training to ensure all permit applications are strictly observed.