Alaska groups concerned about the impact of British Columbia mines on Southeast fisheries continue to push for federal intervention in Canada’s project review process.
Leaders from Rivers Without Borders, the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Salmon Beyond Borders and the United Tribal Transboundary Mining Working Group urged attendees of the Dec. 2 Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Providers Conference in Anchorage to sign a petition requesting Secretary of State John Kerry to initiate the International Joint Commission process — the only way the Alaskans can have their voices heard they said.
The commission, or IJC, consists of five commissioners, two from Canada and three from the U.S., who review transboundary watershed issues. The IJC can only get involved when called upon by both governments. In the U.S., the State Department makes that call.
Rivers Without Borders Alaska Campaign Director Chris Zimmer said there are about a dozen proposed mines in British Columbia that his organization is concerned about. However, the Kerr Sulphurets Mitchell, or KSM, gold proposal on the British Columbia side of the Unuk River drainage seems to be top priority for most individuals worried about the issue.
The Unuk empties into the Pacific between Wrangell and Ketchikan and supports runs of all five Pacific salmon species.
KSM received preliminary provincial approval earlier this year. It would be a combined above and below ground mine. KSM’s tailings facility would be 18 miles away in the Upper Nass River drainage, which flows south and is not a transboundary river.
The groups at the BIA conference said their fears are not heard in the Canadian provincial and federal environmental assessments.
“The Canadian oversight process really isn’t design or capable of protecting interests downstream,” Zimmer said.
Transboundary concerns are something that have bound Southeast tribes together like few issues have in the past, he said. The working group is made up of 12 of the region’s 19 tribes, according to Zimmer.
Carrie James of the United Tribal Transboundary Mining Working Group said it was formed from in March from a two-day Transboundary Mining Summit held in Craig, which brought together tribes, state agencies and others to discuss cross-border development.
“It was during this time that the tribes decided our best approach was to unite and find our strength in numbers to address the transboundary issues,” James said.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/December-Issue-2-2014/Transboundary-issues-remain-thorny/