PacRim Coal halts permitting for mine

Backers had predicted a minimum 25-year mine life

Backers of the controversial Chuitna Coal Project in the Beluga coal field some 45 miles west of Anchorage have suspended all permitting activities, state officials say.

The announcement posted on its website by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources said that as of March 31, PacRim Coal has suspended all permitting activities related to the proposed mine.

The proposed project consisted of a surface coal mine and associated support facilities, mine access road, coal transport conveyor, personnel housing and air strip facility, a logistics center, and coal export terminal

Backers predicted a minimum 25-year mine life with a production rate of up to 12 million tons a year. The company issued a statement saying that “following several months of internal review and discussions, the partners in PacRim Coal, LP have decided to suspend pursuit of its permitting efforts to invest in other projects.”

Deantha Crockett, executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, said the project was projected to exceed an investment of $600 million for development and operation. The mine would have created up to 500 jobs during the construction phase and 350 full time year round jobs while operating, exceeding $300 million in revenues to the Alaska Mental health Trust and millions of dollars to local governments and the state, she said.

The proposed coal strip mine was to be developed near the Chuitna River and the communities of Tyonek and Beluga in Upper Cook Inlet.

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The project was proposed by PacRim LP, a Delaware-based corporation owned by the Texas-based energy company Petro-Hunt LLC.

PacRim has a state lease to 20,571 acres of Alaska Mental Health Trust property where an estimated one billion metric tons of low-sulfur, sub-bituminous coal is believed to lie. Proven reserves were reported to be 771 million tons and prior to suspending efforts for permitting the company was in the advanced stages of state and federal mine permitting.

The coal deposit lies in an area accessible only by sea and air strips at Beluga and Tyonek. PacRim had proposed to build a third airstrip in the project area.

Environmental entities and others engaged in fisheries have expressed concern over potential adverse effects of the coal project on salmon spawning streams.

Strong criticism came from Cook Inletkeeper, which noted that PacRim Coal intended to completely remove 13.7 miles of Middle Creek, a primary tributary of the Chuitna River that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game identifies as important to salmon.

PacRim’s mining plan called for removing the entire streambed, bank-to bank to a depth of 350 feet, destroying the underlying water flow paths essential for overwinter survival of salmon eggs, Cook Inletkeeper noted on its website.

“This level of impact will fundamentally alter the underlying hydrology to a point where stream reconstruction is fundamentally impossible; Middle creek will be destroyed.”

Cook Inletkeeper also noted that the mining area is comprised of headwaters, wetlands, tundra and forest, all vital to the downstream water quality and the health of salmon populations.

“Permitting PacRim’s Chuitna Coal Project will set a historic precedent for fish and game management; destroying health salmon streams for non-renewable resources.  If the state allows mining through the Chuit then no salmon stream in the state is safe,” Cook Inletkeeper said.

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