The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Tough meetings with SE Alaskans lay groundwork for potential BC-AK MOU
British Columbia Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett spent the week of Aug. 23 working to build bonds with Southeast Alaskans worried about potential downstream effects of mining copper- and gold-rich deposits located in northwestern B.C.
Bennett's visit comes one year after a tailings dam burst at the Mount Polley Mine in central British Columbia, sending a deluge of mining waste and untreated water into the surrounding watershed. While the spill did not affect Alaska waterways, it stoked fears about the potential development of mines being planned at deposits located in watersheds that do run through Southeast Alaska.
At least six Northwest B.C. projects located upstream of Alaska - Brucejack (Pretium Resources), Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (Seabridge Gold), Schaft Creek (Copper Fox Metals-Teck Resources), Galore Creek (Novagold-Teck), Kisault (Avanti Mining) and Tulsequah Chief (Chieftain Metals) - are currently in various stages of advanced exploration.
Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who is leading a trans-boundary working group that is tackling the northwestern B.C. mining issues on Alaska's behalf, took early steps to find a diplomatic resolution of tensions that have erupted over the issue. He met with Bennett and other provincial leaders during a trip to British Columbia in May.
"As neighbors, we have many things in common, and I want to strengthen the relationships we, Alaskans, have with British Columbia," Mallott said before his trip.
The lieutenant governor also toured the site of the tailings storage dam failure at the Mount Polley Mine during his B.C. trip.
Bennett's visit to Alaska is a continuation of this diplomatic effort and dialogue, including tough meetings with Southeast Alaska tribal, conservation and fishing groups that have been most outspoken about their distrust of British Columbia and its ability to protect rivers that flow through Southeast Alaska.
"We thank Lt. Gov. Mallott and the Walker Administration for their continued attention to our transboundary mining concerns and are glad that Minister Bennett has made the effort to visit Southeast Alaska and to engage with us directly," Heather Hardcastle, a coordinator for Salmon Beyond Borders, said in a statement.
Bennett and Mallott said British Columbia and Alaska are working out details of a memorandum of understanding that would codify Alaskans' engagement in the permitting and monitoring of future northwestern B.C. mines upstream of Alaska.
"We have had some really excellent discussions with the State of Alaska on what we can do to enhance their already existing role in our environmental assessment process," Bennett said during an Aug. 26 press conference with Mallott.
Such an MOU is expected to include provisions that would further entrench Alaska's Large Mine Review Team in the process for permitting northern B.C. mines, including a role in monitoring and oversight once the mine goes into production.
The agreement also is expected to include enhanced engagement and information-sharing with Southeast Alaskan tribes, fishermen and conservationists, when it comes to these trans-boundary projects.
Mallott emphasized the point that any MOU signed by Alaska would be a "living document" that can be modified as circumstances dictate.
Salmon Beyond Borders and other concerned Alaska stakeholders did not discount a potential MOU as a meaningful first step. However, they still believe that involvement of the International Joint Commission, an organization formed in 1909 to deal with U.S-Canada trans-boundary water issues, is the best way to ensure that Alaskans' interests are protected.
"Fishermen want commitments regarding the watersheds that impact our fisheries to be backed up by the full force of the U.S. government and the Crown because that offers the greatest chance that they will be binding and upheld over time," said Dale Kelley, executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association.
While neither Alaska nor British Columbia is prepared to involve an international overseer at this stage of diplomacy, Mallott and Bennett said a MOU does not preclude the future involvement of the International Joint Commission.
"We will move forward on several fronts, not only collaborating on a draft memorandum of understanding but also exploring federal engagement from Ottawa and our (federal) state department," said Mallott.
The lieutenant governor said he hopes to talk with Secretary of State John Kerry about the trans-boundary issue when he is in Alaska next week, not to press for the immediate involvement of the international commission but to ensure the U.S. Department of State is up to speed in the event that an overseer is needed.
Bennett said the International Joint Commission could be helpful in certain aspects of the Alaska-B.C. trans-boundary solution, such as financial assurances, "should the unthinkable happen."
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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