The idea of expanding the facility for storing waste at Hecla Greens Creek mine on Admiralty Island is open to the public for two more weeks.
Environmentalists have argued that the expansion shouldn’t go ahead without further research to show that the toxic metals found in mine waste haven’t impacted the natural resources of the Tongass National Forest, where the mine is located.
Its style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”Are these metals bioaccumulating in into the food chain?” said Guy Archibald Environmental scientist Guy Archibald with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. “We examine the fugitive dust that is released in the air. Is it captured by the plants, and then getting concentrated through deer? The Eagles ?”
Intensifying the life of the mining
Greens Creek is the nation’s largest producer of silver. They mine for zinc, gold and lead, too. They’re also among Juneau’s most prominent and lucrative private employers.
The facility that is in question holds tailings- ground rock that’s leftover from the mining of precious metals. It is stored and managed in piles that are placed on the grounds of the mine. Tailings create the term fugitive dusttiny particles with the potential to release dangerous metals such as lead in the air.
This is the third expansion for the facility for waste in the time since Greens Creek opened in 1989. The first one that had been approved by the government in 2014 was not as large as the mine’s expectations to be, and this is the reason it was only operational for a short period of time.
From the mining perspective from the mine’s perspective, the most recent expansion is not atypical.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”It’s basically the same way of running our tailings facility in the same way we’ve always done it,” said Mike Satre the director of community and government relationships for the mining. “But just allowing us to add some space.”
In the absence of it, the mining may be out of space in 2025. If the expansion is approved, it will prolong the mine’s operations for up to 40 years.
“What is really important to accomplish here is not to have to return at least every 12 or 10 years to allow the expansion of an existing facility that has been managed with care for many years,” Satre said.
A benchmark of flawless conditions
Although there are a few explicit opposed to the mine’s continuing operation, non-profit organizations such as The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and Friends of Admiralty Island feel that it is time to step back. They are urging to ask the U.S. Forest Service to reproduce the environmental studies conducted to document what they considered to be “pristine” conditions prior to when the mine was opened.
“span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”We need more base information to compare the current situation with the one prior to the mining started,” said John Neary who is who is a retired Forest Service employee and President of the Friends of Admiralty Island.
Greens Creek operates within the Admiralty Island National Monument in the Tongass National Forest, which has higher standards for environmental protection and monitoring. They monitor regularly the water quality sediment, tissue and other samples of marine animals, including mussels, sea worms and clams at Hawk Inlet.
However, Neary claims that monitoring doesn’t suffice to guarantee the health of the subsistence resources within the inlet. Regular monitoring doesn’t extend to animals like seals, deer or other sources of food.
It is a style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”One of our primary concerns is the fact that there are people who eat anything that happens on the sea,” said Neary. “There are clams and crabs and halibut. Therefore, it must be safe for consumption by humans.”
Health of Hawk Inlet
The question of whether the surrounding waters around Hawk Inlet are really uncontaminated is a issue Archibald the environmental scientist, asked in a peer-reviewed study on the clam shells released last month along with Friends of Admiralty Island.
The study compared the shells of live clams that were collected from the inlet with shells taken from Young Bay, which is farther away of the mine. The study revealed that there was a 50% increase in lead levels within the Hawk Inlet shells and concluded that the lead was sourced directly from the tailings facilities.
Archibald’s research was published shortly before an environmental impact report by the Forest Service, which considers four plans for expanding the facilities for tailings. In contrast to the study of Archibald this report states that the marine conditions in Hawk Inlet remain unchanged from the conditions prior to mining.
Both the mine and the state have echoed that statement. In a press release issued recently The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said the clam shell study was “misleading,” citing their own research into clam tissue from the same regions.
“So it’s a popular consensus that the mine has not significantly affecting Hawk Inlet,” Satre stated.
However, Archibald isn’t satisfied with the research on the tissues. He says he’s hoping that the mine, together with federal and state agencies are able to conduct a more extensive marine population study to determine the condition of the inlet.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”This is the most profitable mine for silver, I’m sure that is within the United States,” said Archibald. “They have to be able to perform better work here. .”
Plans for the future of dust that is fugitive
In the Forest Service report acknowledges that certain concerns regarding pollution from heavy metals are valid. Futile dust has been linked with contamination in watersheds near by. Tributary Creek which flows close to the current tailings facility, was deemed to be an “impaired water body” by the state in 2012 because of the high levels of lead caused by the mine.
The proposed expansion options are likely to spread more dust fugitive. To combat this issue, this Forest Service report calls for plans to limit dust as the expansion goes ahead.
Satre stated that Greens Creek boasts a solid history of meeting standards for environmental quality. he added that Greens Creek has already had meetings with concerned people following when the Forest Service report was released.
It’s a span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”We know that there are people who are worried,” Satre said. “We would like to ensure that we’re taking care concerns from our stakeholder and agency concerns as we move forward.”
Joe Zuboff is one of the stakeholders. Joe is from Juneau but was raised in Angoon which is where he goes every year to hunt and fishing.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I’m not opposed to mining, but I’m against the harm of the environment,” he said during an open meeting in the Forest Service Ranger Station in Juneau earlier in the month. “And Angoon is just barely living. They rely on the ecosystem.”
Zuboff recalled a seal that was snatched in Angoon in the year 2016 that showed elevated concentrations of mercury contamination. The state claimed that the elevated mercury levels can’t be definitely connected to mining operations, but Zuboff believes there’s insufficient monitoring of the environment to address his concerns.
Public comments may be filed via the Internet or via mail at 907-586-809 or in person by visiting the Ranger of Forest Service’s Station during Juneau until May 8.
