An administrative court decision concerning the Palmer Project’s wastewater disposal plan is being appealed by both sides. The case will next be heard by the state superior court.
Constantine Metals is exploring the potential for a hard rock mine at its Palmer Project in the upper Chilkat watershed. As part of the next phase of operations, the company wants to dig a mile long tunnel to serve as access for its core sampling effort. Digging the exploratory tunnel would itself have a sizable environmental impact, the company estimates it would release hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater a day in the ground above glacier creek. That water could contain elevated levels of copper, manganese, zinc, selenium, and nitrates, according to Constantine’s data.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation issued a waste management permit to the company, to allow the wastewater from the tunnel to be discharged into the ground through perforated pipes eight feet deep.
The Chilkat Indian Village, which is downstream from the Palmer Project, and a coalition of environmental groups, appealed the issuance of that permit. Their appeal rested on four claims. First, they say the public process was inadequate. Second, they say a federal wastewater permit was necessary. Third, they claim the risks of the system’s malfunction caused by avalanches, landslides or freezing had not been adequately taken into account, and fourth, they say the method used to assess the baseline water quality levels in nearby Glacier Creek was flawed and would allow the company to discharge pollutants into the watershed.
This summer, the DEC commissioner ruled to uphold the permit, but conceded on that fourth point.
Erin Colon is an attorney with the law firm EarthJustice. She represents CIV and the environmental groups.
Colon: “In his August decision, commissioner Brune agreed that the division of water had failed to comply with law, by issuing a permit that would allow the water pollution levels to grow worse than what Alaska water quality standards are.”
The ruling stated the DEC will have to take public input into consideration.
Environmentalists say natural contaminant levels in Glacier Creek vary seasonally, they spike in the spring during snowmelt. In the original permit, the DEC took those spike levels, and set them as year round allowable concentrations. The environmental groups protested that this would allow large amounts of pollutants to be released into the stream. They and the Chilkat Indian Village welcomed the court’s agreement on this point.
But Constantine did not, and the company has filed an appeal with the state superior court to keep those higher limits in place.
The Chilkat Indian Village and the environmental groups are opposing this appeal.
CIV vice president Jones Hotch Jr. says the company’s move shows a desire to avoid the public process, and a disregard for water quality in the Chilkat valley. He says much is at stake.
Hotch: “We could lose a big part of our traditional way of life. Our subsistence, our fishing for our salmon. It’s a very vital part of our food.”
At the same time, some of the groups are filing their own appeal to the administrative court’s ruling. They say the public process was lacking, and that a federal permit was needed.
Colon says the appeals and cross appeals will all likely be heard at the same time.
Colon: “It’s somewhat up to the discretion of the court how to manage the case, but the appeal and cross appeal are closely related.”
Colon says the legal filing, the written and then oral arguments, could take up to a year and a half. She says as things stand, the company can move forward with construction, but is not allowed to discharge any water. Colon says the legal situation may appear convoluted, but the issue is straightforward.
Colon: “The broader, bigger picture, this case is about how well Glacier Creek and the surrounding groundwater should be protected from the wastewater discharge from Constantine’s mineral exploration tunnel. And also, relatedly, how transparent DEC’s decision making about that should be.”
Constantine did not respond to an email requesting an interview for this story.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that “The ruling stated the DEC will have to do more tests of the natural contaminant levels in the creek before the company is allowed to discharge any wastewater. As part of this process, the agency will also have to take public input into consideration.” The ruling does not state that the agency will have to conduct additional tests.
All the ruling mandates is that the DEC takes public input into consideration. This is what Constantine is appealing.
