Orutsararmiut Native Council and the Native Village of Eek, Sovereign Tribal Governments from the Kuskokwim Region of Alaska, Challenge State’s Decision to Grant 12 Permanent Water Rights to World’s Largest Open Pit Gold Mine Project.
While news about a proposed EPA action to protect Bristol Bay from the Pebble Mine made headlines last week, tribes in another Southwest Alaska watershed continued their battle against Donlin Gold, the largest gold mine many have never heard of.
Opposition to the massive mining project has gone largely without the public awareness or support that has benefitted Bristol Bay, but a vast majority of Kuskokwim Tribes oppose the project and have resolved to fight it, along with the Alaska Village Council Presidents, Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, and National Congress of American Indians.
On May 26, Orutsararmiut Native Council and the Native Village of Eek filed a formal appeal of 12 water rights permits that the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR). issued to Donlin Gold LLC.
The water rights at issue in the appeal would allow Donlin to take massive quantities of water from the Kuskokwim River and its tributaries, in some cases resulting in complete dewatering of important salmon habitat. The Tribes’ lawsuit alleges that DNR issued the permits without meeting its constitutional obligation to consider the effects of the entire mine project, including the particularly damaging pit lake treatment works that would be required to store and treat contaminated water in perpetuity. Similarly, it alleges that DNR’s public interest analysis failed
to address this necessary component of the mine project.
“This open pit mining project is going to expose our air, lands, and water to dense amounts of toxins and metals – chemicals that are not only detrimental to our biological systems but also to the animals and agriculture that rely on the vast, pristine, and untouched land. Destroying these habitats and contaminating our waterways has a long lasting effect on the people who rely on these lands. People who subsist and are fighting to maintain a culture that is at constant odds with a profit seeking culture. The Clean Water Act was put into place to protect the environment and those who maintain an active homemaking on the natural resources. A federal act that needs to be enforced and thoroughly thought through, without the blinding light of foreseeable profits. The risk is not worth any amount of money. Money cannot undo chemical exposure and bring back an already thriving ecosystem of life,” said Sophie Swope, a Tribal Organizer with the Mother Kuskokwim Coalition.
“We are to expect irreversible outcomes on the landscape as a result of gold mining operations in our region. How can we support the dewatering of our streams and polluting of our lands, water, and air under the claim that these actions will benefit our Tribe and our people?” said Calvin Cockroft, Acting Executive Director of ONC. “This is a transaction we don’t consent to. It doesn’t matter how much they offer to pay, we cannot eat or drink money. Subsistence is the number one priority in our homes – it’s our local economy. What WE want is healthy lands and clean waters to hunt and fish to continue our way of life. Exposing the naturally occurring mercury in the ore that will be extracted puts our culture at major risk. Alaska is over 40% wetlands, containing such toxins with natural water cycles seems near impossible. We will continue to argue this until someone is willing to listen,” said Calvin Cockroft.
If built, the Donlin Gold Mine would permanently alter the way of life of residents in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region. The EPA cited “potentially serious impacts on human health and environment,” and “increased concentration of mercury and arsenic in surface water and sediments.” The project would be one of the largest open pit mines in the world, and would require massive infrastructure including an access road, gas pipeline and a dramatic increase in barge traffic on the Kuskokwim River which will heavily impact the spawning of rainbow smelt, an important food source for the people of the Kuskokwim.
Industrial development would also release large volumes of greenhouse gasses into our rapidly warming climate. The pit lake would require water treatment in perpetuity.
