Pipeline proposed to power Donlin mine could have impacts from Y-K Delta to Cook Inlet

4 months ago

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If it’s built, the Donlin Gold mine task connected nan Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta would beryllium 1 of nan largest open-pit golden mines successful nan world, powered by a state pipeline that would agelong hundreds of miles crossed nan authorities to Cook Inlet.

KYUK’s Sage Smiley and KDLL’s Riley Board teamed up from some ends of that imaginable pipeline to show this story.

Mile 315 – Crooked Creek

There’s golden successful nan hills extracurricular of nan middle-Kuskokwim River colony of Crooked Creek – an estimated 34 cardinal ounces of gold, nan weight of 5 ample bluish whales.

It’ll return a batch of activity to get it retired of nan ground.

Kristina Woolston is nan vice president of outer affairs for Donlin Gold, which is trying to create nan mine. She explained nan mining process during an Alaska State Senate Resources Committee gathering successful early April.

“Donlin Gold is simply a refractory ore, meaning that microscopic particles are held wrong arsenopyrite and immoderate pyrite. And truthful it requires a very energy-intensive process to extract nan gold,” Woolston explained. “We will beryllium milling astir 59,000 tons per day; (that) requires an atrocious batch of power.”

The Donlin Gold task tract sits connected onshore owned by Alaska Native corporations formed nether nan 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The aboveground authorities are held by The Kuskokwim Corporation, and nan subsurface authorities are held by nan location Calista Corporation.

Thom Leonard is nan vice president of firm affairs for Calista. He said that nan task has gone done a fewer different ideas of really to powerfulness specified a hard-to-access site.

“One of nan early ideas for nan task being truthful remote, evidently Donlin would person to vessel everything successful barges. Not conscionable materials for buildings, but besides fuel, diesel substance for each nan equipment, and power, and heat,” Leonard said.

But concerns complete that imaginable summation successful barge traffic caused pushback from communities on nan Kuskokwim.

“We heard from shareholders and residents up and down nan Kusko(kwim), ‘Hey, that’s a batch of barges. We’re concerned astir that.’ So we reminded Donlin of those comments,” Leonard said. “They went backmost to nan drafting committee and said, ‘Hey, we tin look astatine building a earthy state pipeline. And that’ll trim nan number of barges connected nan stream by half.’ So we’ve taken in, we’ve learned from nan comments of group who person concerns aliases are opposed to nan project.”

The task is backed by galore successful nan colony of Crooked Creek, little than a twelve miles from nan projected excavation site, arsenic good arsenic Calista Corporation.

But plentifulness of different group connected nan Y-K Delta are still not wholly happy pinch nan plan, moreover pinch nan projected barge postulation reduced. Over caller years, galore accepted Native councils and organizations have rescinded support for nan task complete a assortment of biology concerns.

“It’s skewing our accepted values to fresh a mold of firm infrastructure,” said Sophie Swope, nan executive head for Mother Kuskokwim, a nonprofit tribal consortium formed successful 2022 successful guidance to nan Donlin project.

“The truth that there’s going to beryllium a (315)-mile pipeline from Cook Inlet each nan measurement to Crooked Creek, it’s going to beryllium passing truthful galore streams. And of those galore streams, we don’t cognize really galore really are base fish,” Swope said. “And I deliberation that is heavy lacking.”

Mile 0 – Cook Inlet

In nan Cook Inlet region, much of nan speech revolves astir nan value of earthy gas. Specifically, what happens to residential inferior costs if Donlin starts buying up nan gas.

Donlin says its pipeline will usage astir 20 cardinal cubic feet of earthy state each year. To put that number into perspective, it’s astir adjacent to nan magnitude of state consumed by every azygous residential user in nan authorities mixed successful a year.

Energy advisor Mark Foster is worried astir that demand. Foster wrote a report for nan Homer-based biology nonprofit Cook Inletkeeper astir Donlin’s imaginable effect connected inferior rates.

His conclusion? Donlin’s projected power usage could summation rates for Southcentral customers by $265 a year.

That’s because Donlin would beryllium buying state from Cook Inlet, already a basking taxable as utilities pass of their state contracts ending and lawmakers scramble to propose argumentation solutions.

“The Donlin Mine has a ample earthy state demand, based connected nan archiving it’s provided to prospective investors, and that demand, if it came from section Cook Inlet gas, would beryllium a important artifact of demand,” Foster said. “Given nan constricted reserves we spot connected nan horizon, you tin spot wherever their request would push nan value up significantly.”

Not everyone agrees pinch Foster’s report. Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle said that it’s premature to interest astir Donlin’s request erstwhile utilities can’t capable contracts successful nan short term.

“The truth that nan existing request is forecasted to not beryllium met by early proviso — absent caller investment, caller drilling, and caller accumulation — it’s fanciful, aliases I conjecture illogical, to deliberation that someway Donlin Mine is going to beryllium capable to travel in, statement retired for location northbound of 20 cardinal cubic feet worthy of gas, and conscionable exacerbate nan wide power proviso imbalance.”

Boyle agrees that Donlin would usage a lotof gas, but he really thinks it would thrust prices down. He said that business customers for illustration mines thin to supply stableness for section utilities.

“The much request they person from industrial, arsenic good arsenic residential consumers, it enables them to defray those costs out, to dispersed nan costs out,” Boyle said. “So nan much costs these business consumers bear, nan little nan cost, then, for each individual consumer.”

DNR said successful Fairbanks, Golden Valley Electric Association members saw a 7% simplification successful bills aft nan Fort Knox Mine came online. And it said that ratepayers successful Juneau person saved $70 cardinal since 2009 acknowledgment to Hecla Greens Creek Mine’s investment successful hydropower. Those numbers travel from nan Alaska Miners Association.

During nan April Senate Resources Committee, Woolston pinch Donlin said that she thinks nan excavation would person a affirmative effect connected nan state market, but said that Donlin has nan aforesaid worries astir Cook Inlet state arsenic utilities and nan state.

“So we’re anxiously watching everybody else, for illustration everyone else, nan proviso successful Cook Inlet and what nan solution will be,” Woolston said.

The lawsuit

The pipeline is not a done deal. Its licence is challenged successful a civil lawsuit that’s presently earlier nan Alaska Supreme Court.

The authorities approved a right-of-way licence for nan pipeline successful 2021, which crosses astir 200 miles of authorities lands.

But 4 tribes from nan Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region: Orutsararmiut Native Council, Chevak Native Village, Native Village of Eek, Native Village of Kwigillingok, and conservation group Cook Inletkeeper are legally pushing back.

“Unless you look astatine nan full project, you’re not really going to understand nan impacts connected nan nationalist interest,” said Olivia Glasscock, an lawyer for Earthjustice, which represents the 4 tribes and biology nonprofit.

The basal statement of nan suit is that nan authorities only considered nan pipeline itself, not nan effect of nan full task erstwhile it permitted nan pipeline. Glasscock said that nan 2 are inextricably linked.

“What they missed is nan truth that nan pipeline, nan usage of authorities lands, is for this large task astatine nan end,” Glasscock said. “The pipeline doesn’t person immoderate different planned uses. It’s only planned to beryllium maintained for nan life of nan mine. It would not beryllium built unless nan excavation was happening. There’s nary different planned projects related to that pipeline, moreover though it does person further capacity.”

Oral statement for nan lawsuit earlier nan Alaska Supreme Court is scheduled for nan extremity of July.

Source Alaska Public