The Kvichak and Nushagak rivers in the Bristol Bay area of Southwest Alaska hold the greatest amounts of sockeye salmon runs left in the world. About 40 million salmon return to Bristol Bay each year.
Anglo American and Northern Dynasty Minerals have joined to propose the Pebble Mine, which could become one of the world’s largest open-pit and underground mines. There is a claim that the Pebble Mine could hold an estimated value of more than $300 billion from the combined deposit of copper, gold, and molybdenum.
Applications filed by Northern Dynasty Mines in 2006, show that the Pebble Mine would leave permanent landscape features affecting about 30 square miles, including two tailings ponds that would contain billions of tons of mine tailings including toxic materials.
The project would also have an access road, with a slurry line and a water line, directly affecting about 12.5 square miles and a power transmission line.
If the proposal passes, there would be multi-year losses of fish production and stream productivity. The mine’s access road could deteriorate and disrupt fish migration between important habitats. Dust and silt from the road during the life of the Pebble Mine or leakage from the slurry line could smother fish food organisms and incubating fish eggs that could wash downstream to affect spawning. Also, the weight of the roadbed and traffic could compact the soil and alter the movement of groundwater, which could disrupt beach spawning by sockeye salmon in Iliamna Lake.
If this proposal were passed, it would not only negatively impact Alaskans and wildlife, who love and depend on Bristol Bay’s wild salmon and fishery, but it would also have an effect on any company, market, restaurant, or anyone who purchases and sells Bristol Bay salmon and on commercial fishers across the globe— economically, culturally, and socially. Most importantly, aquatic habitats in the Bristol Bay region could be lost forever.
Pebble Mine is a bad choice for a mining site. It can affect many lives, including restaurants and the Dockside Market in Cook County. By raising this issue to the Cook County population, I hope to bring awareness and derive support against Pebble Mine.
Taryn Manthey-Logan
Northfield, MN
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