Two connected Southeast Alaska waterways are on the List of America’s Most Endangered rivers published by a major environmental group.
The Chilkat River and its biggest tributary of that of the Klehini River, are among the rivers that are deemed to be in danger by the group American Rivers, which issued its annual list of the top 10 rivers that are at risk on Tuesday.
The Chilkat and Klehini river flows into the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve that is home to the largest population of Eagles. The rivers also provide salmon runs as well as bears and are essential to the lifestyle in the area’s Lingit people.
But the rivers are in danger by a mine called the Palmer Project, which is situated 18 miles of the Lingit town of Klukwan that is located downstream from Haines.
The Palmer Project is a proposed underground mine for zinc and copper currently in the exploratory stage. This phase includes the construction of an entire mile-long tunnel which is a state-approved project.
In the exploration phase the mine’s project could threaten the rivers, as the report stated.
“The excavation will result in huge piles of waste storage and pollution-laden wastewater discharges within an area that has extremely high concentrations of sulfide deposits, snowfall, rainfall along with seismic activity. The acidic water, that is contaminated by heavy metals, hydrocarbons derived from drilling muds and vehicles, and explosive waste will discharge into nearby creeks, as well as into the Chilkat as well as the Klehini rivers. This is extremely harmful to the fragile ecosystem in Chilkat Valley” said the American Rivers report said.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has granted the water permit to the mining developers for the tunnel. The tunnel will be built to run underneath an glacier. It will also be large enough to handle trucks.
However the Chilkat Indian Village Chilkat Indian Village, the tribal government of the area as well as a number of environmental groups have protested the authority to grant. They are urging an federal agency to intervene for the purpose of ensuring the Clean Water Act standards are adhered to.
The mine poses a serious risk, the tribal president stated in an announcement.
“The natural resources of these waters and lands have enabled our people to not just to live but also to flourish, for countless generations. Infringing on our Chilkat River ecosystem with a hard rock mine would cause a lot of harm to our tribal people who rely heavily on Chilkat River and the Chilkat River and Chilkat Valley as a sustainable source of food,” Chilkat Indian Village President Kimberley Strong said in her statement.
The Palmer Project is being developed as a joint venture between Vancouver’s American Pacific Mining Corp. and Dowa Metals and Mining of Japan. According to its site, American Pacific Mining says that the project is in “advanced exploration” stage and won’t require massive capital costs. The site describes the project as “low capex low operating cost underground mining operation with high margins with attractive environmental characteristics.”
Other rivers included on the endangered list that was announced on this week include: the Colorado River section flowing through the Grand Canyon, the Ohio River as well as The Pearl River of Louisiana and Mississippi and the Pacific Northwest’s Snake River.
This article was originally published in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
