Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor John Williams has joined a statewide coalition of Alaskans pledged to fight a pair of initiatives they say would shut down mining in the state, cut jobs and damage community economies.
In a press release this week, Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown announced a statewide campaign against the two initiatives should Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell certify them eligible for the ballot.
The two initiatives would ban discharges from mining operations into human water supplies and salmon habitat.
Supporters say new rules are necessary to protect human health and the environment. Opponents see them as a broad and direct threat to mining everywhere in the state.
"It would be detrimental to mineral extraction in Alaska," Williams, a founding member of the campaign group, said in an interview Tuesday.
"It's a move to totally shut down extraction of our resources."
Williams said each mining project in the state needs full public review and input and must be transparent. Projects should pass environmental muster on their own merits. The "blanket" laws proposed by the initiatives could impose restrictions that could destroy the mining industry, he said.
"That's absolutely wrong," he said, adding the regulations could even impede ordinary citizens from recreational gold panning.
Among other things, The Alaska Clean Water Initiative and The Alaska Clean Water Initiative (III) would ban releases of toxic pollutants into surface and subsurface waters used by humans for drinking water or by salmon for spawning, rearing, migration or propagation of the species.
In a press release, Marie Greene, of Kotzebue, a founding member of the campaign committee and president of the NANA Regional Corp., said the ballot initiatives would have "a devastating effect on mining families, and be a serious economic blow to rural communities and the economy statewide."
Other founding members include Robert Favretto of Kenai, former Gov. Bill Sheffield, and former state legislator Arliss Sturgulewski, among a host of others.
Jackie G. Hobson of Nondalton, a sponsor of the initiatives, said it struck him as odd that the mining industry and its supporters should fear the environmental measures proposed by the initiatives.
"They want to fight all this stuff, but you see their advertisements in the newspapers saying they're light-years ahead in technology," he said. "If so, there should be no problem. Apparently they're not light-years ahead if these initiatives cause a problem for them."
Hobson is head of the Nondalton Tribal Council.
Petitions for both initiatives were filed with the lieutenant governor's office on Jan. 14, beginning a 60-day period during which signatures will be verified. If either or both were determined to qualify, they would appear on the August primary ballot.
Hal Spence is a reporter for the Peninsula Clarion.
