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Peltola Supports International Watershed Board for Alaska-British Columbia Border

26Apr

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Peltola Supports International Watershed Board for Alaska-British Columbia Border

Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, is speaking out in support of an International Watershed Board for specific rivers along the Southeast Alaska and British Columbia border to ensure environmental protection from potential mining site dam tailings for these salmon rich waterways. Peltola announced her support for an International Watershed Board on Monday, in advance of meetings this week by the International Joint Commission of the U.S. and Canada in Washington D.C. The commission’s mandate is to prevent and resolve disputes under the U.S.-Canada Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. “Alaska and Canada share more than just a border; we share many watersheds and rivers that are critical to our people,” Peltola said. The congresswoman added that she’d heard from many Alaska communities and tribes...

EPA Final Determination Protects Bristol Bay Salmon Fisheries

A final determination on plans for a proposed mine adjacent to the Bristol Bay watershed in Southwest Alaska released Jan. 31 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) favors protections for the huge run of wild sockeye salmon and a multi-million-dollar fisheries economy. The EPA said its determination would protect waters important to sustaining the area’s salmon resources from disposal of dredged or fill materials associated with developing the copper, gold and molybdenum Pebble deposit that a Canadian mining firm wants to develop. The battle between development to extract these minerals from the deposit abutting the Bristol Bay watershed has been ongoing for two decades. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the Bristol Bay watershed is a vital economic driver providing jobs, sus...

Acid Drainage from Abandoned BC Mine Steps Closer to Cleanup

Efforts to halt acid drainage from an abandoned British Columbia mine flowing into the salmon-rich Taku River watershed in Southeast Alaska has come a step closer to resolution, with the future of the Tulsequah Chief Mine now in the hands of the provincial government. The BC government is currently in its third season of preliminary work at the site upstream of Southeast Alaska and has committed to its environmental cleanup, but efforts were slowed because the Tulsequah Chief’s bankrupt owner, Chieftain Metals, was searching for a new owner for the copper, zinc and lead mine, which ceased operations in 1957. In mid-August, a court-mandated deadline for that to happen ended for West Face Capital, the creditor that had hoped to find a buyer for the mine. The conclusion of the re...