Haines officials advance Lutak Dock redevelopment amidst questions over purpose

Haines officials are working to finalize a $28 million redevelopment plan for its freight and fuel dock, the Lutak Dock. As borough officials are negotiating to secure the remaining roughly $3 million in state funding, many residents are alarmed at the possibility for an ore transport facility as part of the redevelopment project. See the proposed plan here. 

Haines harbormaster Shawn Bell says phase three of the Lutak Dock redevelopment plan would ensure both freight and fuel barges would continue to be able to be unloaded simultaneously. He says that Haines dock has capacity for two barges now, and its important to maintain that in the new design.

“And that’s important because when we have a fuel barge, they commonly tie up for a day at a time, sometimes two days at a time, depending on the quantities that they have to offload,” Bell said. “And so that just becomes a scheduling issue with other vessels wanting access.”

Haines borough manager Annette Kreitzer underscored that point saying expanded access for the community is the goal. 

“This is strictly about meeting the needs of Haines residents and having redundancy for the the fuel and freight barges that deliver goods for Haines residents,” Kreitzer said. “It is not about meeting the needs of any mining interests or timber interest or any other commercial interests that may have some idea about how they might want to use the Lutak Dock in the future. It’s not about that.”

The reference to “mining interests” stems from a surprise presentation last month [March 24] by seven Yukon mining executives at a Port and Harbor Advisory Committee meeting. They discussed the potential for ore export from Canadian mines, specifically a containerized bulk handling system, and dredging the port for large ore barges. The mining representatives said they hoped that would be for up to 500 containers per barge in the next two years, and up to 2500 containers per barge load as more Yukon mines come online in the next 10 to 15 years. They agreed that the renovated Haines dock could serve that purpose. 

That’s led to increasing distrust from some quarters of the community who say they’re worried redevelopment plans of the Haines dock would include facilities for ore transport, without community consultation. On Thursday, dozens of concerned Haines residents packed the special Planning Commission meeting to express concerns about environmental impacts of ore trucking through Haines, and risks to water, air and wildlife of the Lutak Inlet.

“We lost a lot of trust in you. An awful lot of trust,” said Richard Buck has lived in the Lutak area for nearly 50 years. “And I’m hearing nothing tonight but doublespeak. I have not heard anybody say there will not be any ore boats coming in here. I would like to hear that. Instead of saying well, phase three, they may come in, or they may not come in. I would like to have a definite no, they’re not coming.”

A coalition of 33 residents of the Lutak area, nearby to the dock, submitted a joint letter requesting no action be taken until there is more public discussion, citing environmental and quality of life concerns.

Mosquito Lake community resident Erika Merklin opposed the expanded redevelopment plan. 

“Spending money on a phase three that doesn’t have public support, truly is wasting money. And so I would recommend that we hold off on phase three, and really just assess our needs and, and accept that we might not really need to go forward with trying to get even more money that phases one and two can serve our community,” she said. 

Shannon Donahue criticized the recent public process citing past community consensus for no ore terminal. She’s a Haines resident and works for the  Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, an environmental group that opposes mining in the region.

“Many of us don’t want more ships, and we don’t want bigger ships. We don’t want our home to become an industrial transportation corridor,” she said. “If the borough finds that with new information or under new circumstances, it wants to pivot from the broadly agreed upon alternative, a thorough public process is an order at the level of the 2016 to 2017 process.”

Haines Mayor Douglas Olerud also spoke and apologized to the community for the ports committee not posting the mining discussion on its agenda, and concerns around a rushed process and lack of transparency. The chair of the ports committee Terry Pardee resigned after public outcry, but withdrew his resignation last week. Andrew Letchworth with the Haines Chamber of Commerce, who brokered the meeting with Yukon mining executives, also apologized publicly at the Planning Commission meeting.

“​​There was a failure in the way that meeting was conducted,” Mayor Olerud said. “And that is on us as the borough and not on any individual that is trying to bring people to the table to communicate, it should have been done differently.”

Planning Commissioner Jerry Lappe spoke in support of the plan and need for the phase three dock expansion as proposed. 

“We’re talking about the Lutak dock failing, and that was over 12 years ago. And so it’s still failing and it’s not getting better by itself. We have to move on this here.”

Planning Commissioner Chair Diana Lapham, who also sits on the Port and Harbor committee, expressed doubt that the opposition for an ore terminal represented the majority of the Haines community. 

“I don’t want an ore terminal. I don’t want things to be like Skagway. You people, people forget that we’re here to do the best for the community. And like Mr. (Don) Turner Jr said, 150 people, or 200 people is not representative of the majority of this community. But we take your concerns as seriously as we do the other people.”

She’s referring to the legacy pollution in Skagway’s ore terminal leftover from the decades of heavy metals leaching into the harbor when that community was a shipping hub for Canadian mines. A limited dredging operation recently remediated some of that pollution.

The majority of six-member planning commissioners voted 5-1 to support the redevelopment plan and recommend it to the borough Assembly. Nik LaCroix voted against. 

Kreitzer says a second ramp on the Lutak Dock would be a backup, after Haines only roll-on roll-off ramp partially sank last summer. Though concerning, it did not delay the barge delivery schedule at that time, according to the harbormaster, Shawn Bell.

“And again, it just gives us versatility to the facility with other potential customers or a larger vessel, whatever that may be,” he said.

The Lutak Dock plan is a conceptual design at the 35 percent design level and not yet finalized. But Haines officials are currently working to secure the remaining funding from the state legislature this budget cycle, roughly $3 million. That’s to shore up the $20 million federal infrastructure grant Haines was awarded last year.

The Haines assembly has scheduled a vote on a resolution to support the three phased plan of the Lutak Dock redevelopment. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday on Zoom only. See login details here.