24 Aug
Happy Friday Alaska! Here are some conservation related issues making headlines across the state this week:
Usibelli, resident groups meet in federal court
Both sides weigh in on Ballot Measure 2
GVEA Eva Creek wind towers to be tested in September, with online power in October
Price of hydro up for debate- Susitna-Watana costs: AEA, ISER spar over numbers
Rep. Beth Kerttula (D-Juneau) talks about the Alaska Coastal Management Program and Ballot Measure 2
15 Jun
Happy Friday Alaska! Here are some articles making headlines across the state this week:
I know I’ve shared this on Facebook already this week but it’s such great news so I wanted to share it again- Halibut bycatch reduced by nearly 700,000lbs!
Polar bear researcher wins conservation prize
Mat-Su Assembly won’t expand coal study
Escaped Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center brown bear found dead
26 Apr
You asked for it and we at the Alaska Conservation Blog are listening! Here is the latest information about Alaska’s proposed coal mines, current coal mine, and other related coal projects:
Alaska is the world’s next frontier in the fight against coal, mercury pollution and climate change. Current estimates show that Alaska has up to 5.5 trillion tons of coal reserves, representing up to 1/8 of the world’s coal, which until recently has remained largely un-mined. However, rising international demand for coal could change that quickly. The U.S., on average relies on coal for about 44% of its electricity generation. Alaska, ever defiant of ‘average’, only uses coal for about 10% of our generation. We currently have only one active coal mine, Usibelli Coal Mine, but there are SIX coal-fired plants just between Healy and Fairbanks. At least 8 new coal mining projects are currently in various stages of permitting throughout Alaska. The sheer size of the coal resources puts Alaska at risk of becoming among the world’s top coal exporters and a major contributor to global climate change. In addition to the enormous consequences the consumption of these coal reserves would have on Alaska’s climate and the mercury that will be produced from consuming this coal, extracting coal on a significant scale would also put some of Alaska’s most precious natural resources at risk.
Before we move into the proposed projects themselves, a quick word about mercury pollution. While emerging science still has yet to paint a picture of the full effects of mercury on human health, the information so far is still pretty scary. Emerging science suggests that there is no ‘safe’ level of mercury exposure. It is already known that mercury is a potent neurotoxin that causes a variety of adverse health effects, an agent that mutates genetic material and disrupts fetal or embryonic development. Mercury is also a suspected carcinogen. For more information on the effects of mercury please click here.
Chuitna Coal Strip Mine– PacRim Coal, LLC is proposing a strip mine that would mine through 11 miles of productive salmon streams in the Chuitna River, 45 miles west of Anchorage. In addition to damaging a healthy wild Alaska salmon population, the proposed mine would also dump 7 million gallons a day of mine waste water and runoff daily into the Cook Inlet. The strip mine itself wouldn’t be the only development with this project either. The mine complex would also include a two mile long trestle into Cook Inlet, housing facilities, and coal crushing facilities. In the past, DNR has not permitted the removal of a salmon stream, this would be the first. DNR’s websites states that ‘at this time a complete permit application package for the Chuitna Coal Project has not been submitted’. A Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement is expected in late 2011 or early 2012. Opponents to the mine have asked the Governor and the Alaska DNR to declare the region and the river an unsuitable location for a mine due to the devastating impact the project will have on Alaska’s wild salmon resources. Cook Inlet Keeper and the Chuitna Citizens Coalition are leading the efforts to fight this project. For more info, check out www.chuitna.org.
Wishbone Hill– The site of this proposed mine is approximately 5 miles west of Sutton, AK and is surrounded by residential areas. Usibelli Coal Mining Company holds many of the necessary permits to mine in the region and recently began exploratory drilling at the site with the goal of shipping coal to Asian markets as early as 2012. The local impacts associated with the dust, traffic and blasting and threats from groundwater contamination are raising concerns in the region about the effects the mine will have on public health as well as on property values. Much of the information currently being used by Usibelli and the State is more than 25 years old and fails to consider the rapidly growing communities in the Matanuska Valley. The Mat-Valley Coalition is leading the efforts to oppose the remaining permits and force the State to use modern research in the permitting process. Additionally, the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council has appealed to the UN Independent Expert on the human right to water and sanitation to protect local residents from the impacts of the mine. For more information visit: www.matvalley.org.
Jonesville Mine– Black Range Minerals, an Australian company, purchased the Jonesville Coal Mine in Sutton, AK with the intention to sell its coal to South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China. The coal mine was operational between 1920 and 1968 but is currently closed and under various stages of reclamation. Black Range purchased rights to the mine in 2008 and sought to extend the mining permit in 2010. DNR hosted an informal conference which attracted many residents. The chief complaint was for the health of the people in the residential areas surround the mine and transportation routes. For more info, check out the Castle Mountain Coalition.
In addition to Jonesville and Wishbone Hill in the Mat-Su Valley, the Mental Health Trust Authority is currently in the process of leasing a thousand acres of land in Chickaloon for coal exploration and development.
There are also several active coal mining proposals in the Arctic. One of the world’s largest mining companies, BHP Billiton, is proposing a project in the Western Arctic and several developers are looking at the Nanushuk coal prospects just north of Anaktuvuk Pass. These projects would have significant impacts on local caribou and other wildlife essential to the subsistence lifestyles of Arctic communities. The Nanushuk project has been met with stiff resistance from the Village of Anaktuvuk Pass and opposition in other communities throughout the region is growing. For more information on the Nanushuk prospects, click here.
With the rising costs of fuel, proposals to turn coal into liquids (for more information on this technology click here) to replace oil consumption in the U.S. are popping up. To replace only 10% of U.S. oil consumption with coal liquids, mining would need to increase by 42%. That is pretty substantial. Proposed sites for coal-to-liquid facilities include Healy, Beluga, Tyonek, and Fairbanks.
Seward Coal Loading Facility– This operational facility has been the target of complaints from residents of the Seward community since 1987 when it opened its doors. Residents claim that coal dust is released during loading at the facility and covers nearly everything in Seward; seeping into the harbor and bay and being inhaled by residents. A few conservation groups have filed suit, alleging that the facility is violating the Clean Water Act for discharging coal into the Resurrection Bay. The Alaska Railroad Corporation has been unwilling to contain the dust even with residents’ ongoing complaints. The Alaska Department of Environmental Quality has recently begun to examine the possibility of drafting fugitive dust standards that could potentially help clean up the Seward facility as well as other sources of fugitive dust throughout the state. For more information on coal dust, please click here.
Healy Coal Plant #2- This now defunct 50-megawatt coal plant was never fully functional but Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA), the Fairbanks area utility is proposing to reopen the facility, is moving forward despite concerns, both fiscal and environmental. After a few test runs in the late 90’s, the Healy #2 plan was shut down due to operational problems and legal disputes. Healy #2 is located less than five miles from Denali National Park. Also known as the so called ‘Healy Clean Coal Plant’, this experimental project was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the state of AK, AIDEA, Usibelli and GVEA to burn ‘waste coal’ as part of the Clean Coal Technology Program. In 2009, GVEA purchased the plant with the intent of reopening it by 2011. In September of 2010, the state revoked the draft air quality permit it had previously issued the plant and it is unclear when the permitting process will be re-started. A study commissioned by the Alaska Conservation Alliance, ‘Fairbanks First Fuel Analysis’ showed that an equivalent investment in energy efficiency upgrades would make the need for Healy #2 virtually non-existent. If the one hundred million dollars necessary to reopen Healy #2 were instead put towards energy efficiency measures, Fairbanks could reduce its demand by as much as 96 MW, meeting all of Fairbanks’ real needs using half the electricity supplied in 2009.
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