During a community presentation, Ella Ede of Northern Dynasty Mines showed lots of pretty photographs and waxed eloquently about a potential flood of money and jobs, but she failed to address what is at risk and what the true costs to Alaskans will be if the largest open pit mine in North America is developed.
In response to the public’s concerns, she put on a lot of spin and artfully dodged the tough questions. By design, it was an extremely one-sided presentation.
If the Pebble Mining District (an area being staked by companies around the world and many times the size of Northern Dynasty’s proposed open pit mine) is developed, a huge swath of wild Alaska will be destroyed and adjacent areas will be forever altered. The toxic effects of the mines along with the negative impacts of ancillary development such as roads, slurry pipelines, transfer facilities and worker housing will degrade not only the watershed of Bristol Bay, but also lower Cook Inlet.
Sustainable economies such as commercial fishing, guiding, hunting, sport fishing, recreation and subsistence that have existed in the region for generations will be threatened. Multinational corporations will reap billions of dollars, but unlike the oil industry, only miniscule royalties from our public mineral resources might be paid to the state. In fact, some mining operations in Alaska currently pay nothing, as loopholes in mining laws allow the already tiny royalties to be based on net revenue, not the market value of minerals extracted from our land.
The people of Alaska deserve to hear all sides of this issue now. We must also urge our legislators to guarantee that any process that permits such a huge mine be conducted in a fair and open manner.
Unfortunately, the cards appear stacked against us. Over the past two years, the Murkowski administration has been systematically weakening resource protections while at the same time “streamlining” the permitting process for corporations like Northern Dynasty.
As a community, we should be demanding a fair and balanced look at the proposed Pebble mine, not just a slick presentation from a corporation able to spend millions of dollars on public relations. Future presentations should include all points of view.
In order to adequately serve our community, it would be honorable if the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, who sponsored Northern Dynasty’s recent presentation, would sponsor another presentation which addresses the potential impacts. Groups like the Bristol Bay Alliance and Alaskans for Responsible Mining need to be included.
Unfortunately, these citizen groups don’t have a fraction of the financial resources of foreign corporations like Northern Dynasty — they are everyday Alaskans like you and me who stand to lose a great deal at the hands of global conglomerates poised to despoil our home in the name of profit. The people who stand to lose deserve equal time in the discussion.
Willy Dunne is a longtime resident of the Kachemak Bay area where he is raising his family and has worked as a commercial fisherman, carpenter, park ranger and fishery biologist.
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