Mine Approved for Rich Salmon River Pits Alaska Against B.C.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada, June 14, 2000 (ENS) - The largest salmon producing river in Southeast Alaska could be threatened by a mining proposal that depends on the construction of a 160 kilometer (100 mile) long road.
Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Frank Rue says that without a joint watershed planning process, British Columbia is putting the cart before the horse in proposing to reopen the Tulsequah Chief Mine, located on a tributary of the Taku River 100 kilometers south of Atlin, B.C.
Rue leads an Alaskan delegation in Vancouver this week to meet B.C. and Canadian government officials. "Watershed planning needs to occur before irrevocable decisions are made regarding the mine or access road," he said.
Each year, more than two million salmon return to the Taku and its tributaries on both sides of the border. Water quality, salmon habitat and the communities that depend on both, could be threatened, said Rue.
"It is essential to protect these important fisheries and look at the big picture first so that development in the Taku watershed does not damage water quality or salmon fishery resources for both countries," Rue said. "Piecemeal permitting cannot ensure the safety of these valuable resources."
The Taku River is a shared Alaska and British Columbia watershed to which provisions of both the Boundary Waters Treaty and the 1999 Pacific Salmon Treaty apply.
The Tulsequah-Chief mine was operated initially by Cominco. In 1957, the company stopped mining at the site on the Tulsequah River, upstream from its confluence with the Taku River. Redfern, a junior mining company based in Vancouver, acquired the property in 1992.
The B.C. government approved Vancouver based Redfern Resources Ltd.'s proposal to reopen the mine in March 1998 after a three and a half year environmental review. Redfern had invested more than C$8 million since 1995 to meet the technical, environmental and public consultation requirements of the B.C. Environmental Assessment Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
Receipt of the Project Approval Certificate enabled Redfern to complete financing arrangements, and to begin the process of acquiring routine permits for the construction and eventual operation of the mine.
Alaska Governor Tony Knowles has asked that before the mine project proceeds, the Taku River watershed receive a reference to the International Joint Commission (IJC), the organization charged with resolving transboundary water disputes between the U.S. and Canada formed by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty.
To date, British Columbia has not agreed to an IJC reference on either the watershed or the mine.
"We continue to believe the IJC is the best existing mechanism to develop a watershed plan which ensures the protection of the tremendous fisheries resources and the productive habitat and clean water on which they depend," Rue said. "An IJC reference will put the horse before the cart, where it belongs."
Environmental groups from both sides of the border support Alaska's position. The Sierra Club, the Sierra Legal Defense Fund, BC Wild, and the David Suzuki Foundation have all called for an international review of the project.
Questions about potential habitat damage from the mine led American Rivers, a Washington, DC based conservation group, to list the Taku River 14th among the 20 most endangered rivers of 1998.
The Taku watershed is an 18,000 square kilometer (4.5 million acre) unroaded tract of land in Northwestern B.C. It contains habitats representing five biogeoclimatic zones ranging from high plateaus to lush coastal temperate rainforests.
It supports some of the richest wildlife habitat on the west coast of North America. Grizzly, moose, caribou, black bear, mountain goat, salmon and migrating birds thrive in large numbers due to the area's isolation and the fact that it is only accessible by float plane, river boat or by foot.
It is the traditional home of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation. In 1999, the Taku River Tlingit asked the B.C. Supreme Court for a judicial review of the provincial government's approval of the mine. The case was heard in March on the issue of whether government has a duty to protect the environment and the fishing and hunting rights of the native people. The court's decision is expected shortly.
The Tulsequah Chief Project will produce zinc, copper, lead, gold and silver concentrates for at least nine years, with the potential for a much longer mine life based on as yet unexplored reserves.
Redfern expects the mine to create 600 direct and indirect jobs and C$190 million in government revenues.
But a report commissioned by the Environmental Mining Council of British Columbia and published last fall casts doubt on Redfern's projections of profitability and public benefits.
"The company overstates the potential economic returns of its project by using extraordinarily high price scenarios for all four base metals found at the mine site," said the report's author Tom Bartek, a mineral economist who has reviewed the economic feasibility of mines for numerous clients, including the Canadian government.
"The gap between Redfern's projections and the real costs of mining the Tulsequah Chief are substantial, and in our opinion, raise serious questions about the long term economic viability of this project," the council's executive director Alan Young said at the time.
Talks on the Tulsequah Chief Mine are scheduled to continue through Thursday.