Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott says the state is moving forward to boost communications with British Columbia over environmental concerns regarding waterways flowing downstream into Southeast Alaska from mining areas of British Columbia.
A statement of cooperation between the governments of Alaska and British Columbia, which likely will be signed by the end of September or early October, will serve as a framework for us to work as cooperatively as we are able with the relevant ministries of British Columbia in creating access for Alaska to their mine permitting processes, Mallott said.
“We hope to use the SOC as a vehicle for communications, for a transparent working relationship, and for overall engagement,” he said.
Mallott’s efforts are prompted by concerns of residents of Southeast Alaska that existing and planned British Columbia mines near salmon-rich transboundary waters could, and in some cases already are being adversely impacted by mines.
Within the SOC framework there will be a technical working group of BC and state officials, a policy level working group, and we would meet formally or communicate once a year to decide if there are issues we need to address, Mallott said.
The SOC would also potentially be one piece of a larger effort, involving federal communications between the United States and Canada, he said.
The state of Alaska and the Alaska congressional delegation, along with conservation groups, have asked Secretary of State John Kerry to become involved, under the Boundary Waters Treaty, to protect waterways critical to the region’s fisheries, waterways and way of life.
The statement of cooperation is not binding and has no budget, said Heather Hardcastle, director of Salmon Beyond Borders, a Southeast Alaska campaign focused on protecting transboundary waters from acid mine drainage.
The SOC would improve information exchange, but we need much more, she said.
“So we are calling on the state to be really clear that they will continue to work with the federal government to be sure that enforceable protections are put in place so our way of life is maintained,” she said.
Concerns of Southeast Alaska residents were heightened by recent news that the Chieftain Metals Corp., owners of the defunct Tulsequah Chief mine in the Taku watershed in British Columbia is now in receivership.
The Tulsequah Chief mine has leaked acid drainage for over two decades, and is a poster child for downstream concerns, according to Chris Zimmer, Alaska campaign director for Rivers Without Borders.
BC Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett declined an interview, but issued a statement on Sept. 14 says that his government was aware that Chieftain Metals Corp. was in receivership and was taking appropriate action. Bennett said that inspectors from the provincial ministries of Energy and Mines and Environment would be at the mine site again later this month to determine the status of compliance with its permits.
Zimmer said that the same site was inspected in October 2015 and determined to be out of compliance, but little was done in response to that inspection.
Bennett said that the Tulsequah Chief mine is an old mine that existed long before most jurisdictions had reclamation legislation or bonding, and that Alaska officials had confirmed in his presence that the mine site is not causing any damage to the Tulsequah River.
According to Mallott, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation had determined that the mine had no detectible impact on the Taku River in Alaska, not the Tulsequah River.
Bennett said that the BC government has reclamation legislation to ensure mining operations do not leave an ongoing legacy or require public funds for cleanup activities.
“Companies are legally required to reclaim all lands they disturb by mining, or through exploration,” he said. According to Zimmer, such legislation would be meaningless if a company goes bankrupt.
Mallott said that when Bennett came to Alaska last fall to discuss transboundary issues with stakeholders that he and Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten had flown over the Tulsequah Chief mine site with Bennett and saw a pipe spewing into the river liquids that looked brown and highly mineralized. As a result of that trip, Bennett had contacted his ministry and sent a cease and desist order to the mine owners. Mallott said he had recently learned that the mine was in receivership and was waiting for word from Bennett on what his ministry would be doing about the continuous runoff.
Southeast Alaska stakeholders are pointing to the Tulsequah chief mine as a case for heightened vigilance, and until the runoff is dealt with, that doubt remains, he said.
Rob Sanderson, first vice president of the Tlingit and Haida Central Council, and chairman of the United Tribal Transboundary Work Group, said the Southeast Alaska tribes plan to work with First Nation tribes on transboundary issues, but would have preferred to be in a trilateral agreement with the state and provincial governments.
DEC managers meanwhile were moving ahead with plans to begin a five-year water monitoring effort in Southeast Alaska.
Alaska is too big to have regular monitoring of all its waters, but plans are to begin one soon through the Alaska Monitoring and Assessment Program, to sample lakes, rivers and some coastline, said Michelle Hale, director of DEC’s Division of Water.
The effort will involve partnering with tribal entities, including the Tlingit and Haida Central Council, the Douglas Indian Association, the U.S. Forest Service, and others.
The monitoring will look at habitat, monitor pH and conductivity and look for metals in the water column, Hale said. “And we might monitor for metals in the sediment under water, or monitor for hydrocarbons.
It’s a national sampling program that can be tailored by the state to look for things that might be there, she said.
DEC will also be working with Canadian counterparts through a technical work group, to be sure that information gathered on both sides of the border can be compared in a meaningful way, Hale said.
