North of the Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, a battle is raging. Beneath this pristine landscape that also is home to the headwaters of one of our planet’s richest wild salmon spawning grounds, lays a vast amount of gold, copper, and molybdenum. Mining for these extracted resources will bring huge profits to Pebble Limited Partnership (Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd and Anglo American Plc.) who are seeking to tap these rich veins of ore through a project called the Pebble Mine. Sadly, there is a price to be paid for all that may be lost.
The Pebble Mine, if built, will be the world’s largest open pit mine. Situated at the headwaters of two of the most bountiful salmon producing rivers in Alaska — the Mulchatna/Nushagak River drainage and the Newhalen/Kvichak River drainage, both rivers feed into the waters of Bristol Bay. This massive mining project, situated on a vast tract of pristine terrain, poses the risk of altering the landscape and the lives of those who earn their living from it, forever.
Opposition to the mine is strong, including a variety of local community groups, Alaska Native communities, the commercial fishing industry, sport fishing and outfitting companies, elected officials, as well as a wide range of concerned environmental groups. However, the mining industry sees this as a benchmark project that may pave the way for future, even more destructive mining in America’s last frontier. As a result, they are determined to make this mine proposal a reality.
We at Leber Jeweler Inc. were among the first to take a vocal and active stance in opposition to this mine last February, as part of a national campaign organized by Earthworks, a highly respected environmental organization. We continue to be a part of a very small group of industry leaders (and the only independent retail jeweler) that is wholly committed to working to stop this mine from being started. As a company, we have pledged never to buy gold sourced from the Pebble Mine, a commitment few other recognized companies in the jewelry industry have made.
The mining lobby working along side the developers of this project is a powerful group and continues their quest to erode the state and federal laws that prevent unhindered development in some of our nation’s most fragile environments. Their efforts include working to prevent passage of an Alaskan clean water ballot initiative that would have prevented the discharge of harmful pollutants into streams used by humans or salmon (the measure was voted down during a referendum held in August 2008,1 to a lawsuit against the US government led by Alaska’s governor and current Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin that is supported by a consortium including the National Mining Association seeking to remove the polar bear from the list of “threatened species”.2 The fight to protect our environment from those that seek to profit from the land at any cost will be long and hard.
There is room on this earth for responsible mine development. But locations like the proposed site for the Pebble Mine are too valuable to put at risk of irreversible harm to gain short-term profit. Once the damage is done, it can never be repaired. With so few places left on earth comparable to the Bristol Bay watershed, we must all work together to preserve this natural treasure.
1 On Aug. 26, Alaskans voted down a ballot measure that proponents had cast as crucial to the future survival of Bristol Bay salmon. Ballot measure 4, which survived a challenge that went all the way to the state Supreme Court to remain on the state's primary ballot, would have prohibited large metal mines from contaminating salmon streams and drinking water sources.
2 On May 15th the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a notice in the Federal Register that amended the regulations at 50 CFR part 17 (which implements the Endangered Species Act) to create a special rule "that provides measures that are necessary and advisable for the conservation of the polar bear."
The state of Alaska filed a lawsuit on August 4th to overturn polar bear's threatened species listing, arguing that the rules protecting the polar bear from extinction placed an onerous burden on mining and oil companies. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, said, "We believe that the service's decision was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available."
Despite the overwhelming evidence of loss of habitat due to global climate change confirmed by countless scientists and numerous studies, the Governor feels “This is simply not justified.” The case is currently pending in Federal court.
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