Federal case challenging Donlin mine’s environmental impact statement heads to court

The projected Donlin Gold excavation tract connected Aug. 19, 2017. (Katie Basile/KYUK)

The biology reappraisal process for projected mining projects is simply a lengthy one. But Bethel’s Orutsararmiut Native Council and 5 other tribes from nan region are suing nan U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, saying nan national agency grounded to see important accusation in its review of nan Donlin Gold excavation project.

The suit focuses connected 3 main points.

The first, nan tribes assert, is that nan Army Corps didn’t exemplary a ample capable imaginable spill from nan tailings pond that would clasp nan mine’s discarded material. Earthjustice lawyer Maile Tavepholjalern represents nan six tribes successful nan case.

“The Army Corps looked astatine a tailings spill of conscionable 0.5% of nan reservoir capacity,” Tavepholjalern said. “That’s moreover though larger tailings spills person happened, including during nan Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process for this excavation – that was erstwhile Mount Polley’s reservoir failed, spilling retired much than 30% of its contents.”

Second, nan tribes allege nan Army Corps of Engineers didn’t look intimately capable astatine nan wellness impacts of a monolithic excavation successful nan region. They constituent to an unreleased authorities report, which outlined nan mine’s imaginable affirmative and antagonistic impacts including fare and nutrient security, marine traffic, and section economies.

The 3rd constituent of contention is nan effect of Donlin’s barging plan connected nan Kuskokwim, which could more than double nan number of barges connected nan stream during nan outpouring and summer. The tribes reason that nan Army Corps didn’t decently see aliases mitigate the impact of accrued barging connected Kuskokwim rainbow smelt – an important subsistence nutrient for communities up and down nan river.

“Despite knowing astir these impacts, nan Army Corps of Engineers relied connected ineffective measures to effort to forestall those impacts,” Tavepholjalern said. The environmental review takes into relationship a barge connection scheme pinch subsistence users, a monitoring programme for rainbow smelt, and subcommittees to thief coordinate communication.

“But nary of these things would really forestall impacts to nan smelt that are spawning successful nan river,” Tavepholjalern said.

The task has some fierce support and opposition, which is reflected successful nan national suit.

Since it was primitively revenge past twelvemonth connected behalf of 3 tribes, 3 much person signed connected to conflict nan Army Corps’ decision. The suit follows complete a decade of expanding guidance successful nan region, including from former supporters like nan region’s tribal consortium, nan Association of Village Council Presidents, which represents 56 tribes crossed nan Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta.

On nan broadside of nan Army Corps of Engineers, Donlin Gold, nan location Alaska Native corp Calista Corporation, and nan Native Village of Crooked Creek are backing nan national government’s biology decisions.

Earlier this year, Alaska’s three-person legislature delegation made waves erstwhile it filed an amicus little successful nan case in support of nan Donlin Gold project.

“I borderline consciousness betrayed,” said Sophie Swope, nan executive head of Mother Kuskokwim, a tribal nonprofit consortium formed successful 2022 successful guidance to nan projected mine. She said it was particularly distressing to study of U.S. House Rep. Mary Peltola’s support for nan project.

“I was made to judge that she was very overmuch opposed to Donlin,” Swope said. “And I don’t know. For this determination to travel retired successful national litigation, it was, I don’t know, conscionable very overmuch heart-wrenching.”

Swope, who besides sits connected nan committee for Bethel’s tribe, said nan legislature delegation is hypocritical. The excavation tract is located adjacent a tributary astir 10 miles from nan mainstem of nan Kuskokwim River. Swope said it doesn’t make consciousness to support nan excavation while besides seeking answers to nan river’s declining salmon runs.

“How are you going to make judge aliases effort to amended understand really those fisheries are coming backmost aliases why they’re not returning, and besides let for their spawning beds to beryllium wholly dewatered and disrupted for nan remainder of time?” Swope asked.

Swope besides points to an independent report, commissioned by Mother Kuskokwim earlier this year, which modeled overmuch much wide-ranging and catastrophic impacts than nan 0.5% nonaccomplishment utilized successful nan Army Corps’ biology effect statement.

“For a tailings reservoir that is going to person to past done perpetuity until Jesus returns to Earth and past again, I don’t understand really that tailings reservoir is going to unrecorded done our earthquakes, particularly erstwhile it’s sitting connected apical of an hold of nan Denali responsibility line, which is simply a very, very progressive responsibility line,” Swope said. “That’s, I consciousness like, immoderate of nan accepted knowledge that was benignant of misunderstood aliases not, like, taken successful during nan EIS process.”

However, that caller study modeling larger tailings reservoir failures apt won’t beryllium a portion of arguments successful nan national case. It’s a type of lawsuit called an “administrative grounds case,” wherever parties reappraisal accusation utilized successful nan determination erstwhile it was reached successful mid-2018.

The Calista Corporation owns nan subsurface authorities to nan tract and has backed nan task for decades.

Thom Leonard is Calista’s vice president of firm affairs. He said Calista and Donlin person spent a batch of clip trying to make judge nan task tin hap safely, including proposing a state pipeline to trim down connected nan number of barges in nan Kuskokwim and considering nan measurement nan tailings reservoir will beryllium built.

“When you look astatine immoderate of nan disasters – and they are perfectly horrific. It hurts my psyche to spot what has happened – but they’re very overmuch different things,” Leonard said. “It’s for illustration saying each boats are nan same, aliases each food are nan same. And that conscionable simply isn’t true. You don’t spell retired pinch a 6-(inch) mesh to drawback minnows, to drawback herring. That conscionable simply doesn’t work. When you look astatine Mount Polley, they had a very different reservoir design.”

Leonard continued: “What we’re utilizing astatine nan Donlin tract is simply a downstream design. So that’s fundamentally a pyramid. When you look astatine pictures of Egypt, you don’t spot very galore half-shaped pyramids there. They’re full-on diamond-shaped, triangular-shaped. That is nan astir unchangeable and strongest creation that you tin have. And that’s what’s being utilized astatine Donlin. So comparing 1 circumstantial type of reservoir to different really doesn’t equate.”

Leonard said that Calista appreciates nan legislature delegation’s support of nan Donlin Gold task done nan amicus little successful nan national case.

“But erstwhile you return a measurement back,” Leonard said, “What I admit – immoderate of nan past comments that legislature leaders person made, and others, is: ‘let nan permitting process play out, nan permits will beryllium aliases disprove nan information and nan stableness of this project.’ And truthful acold each nan permits person said, ‘Yes, this tin beryllium done successful a safe and responsible manner.’”

In a written statement, Donlin Gold spokesperson External Affairs Manager Kristina Woolston echoed that sentiment. She wrote that Donlin Gold takes nan national lawsuit earnestly and is assured that national agencies person thoroughly reviewed some nan imaginable impacts of nan task and its mitigation plans.

“Since nan project’s inception, Donlin Gold has been moving successful business pinch Alaska Native landowners Calista Corporation and The Kuskokwim Corporation to guarantee it will use nan group of nan Yukon-Kuskokwim region successful an environmentally responsible measurement that will not inhibit accepted subsistence activities,” Woolston wrote. “Donlin Gold remains committed to providing economical opportunities and hiring arsenic galore shareholders arsenic imaginable to let residents of nan Y-K region to supply for their families and support a subsistence measurement of life.”

Oral statement successful nan suit is scheduled to statesman Monday day successful nan national courthouse successful Anchorage.