The Upper Lynn Canal Fish and Game Advisory Committee wants the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to take a harder stance on potential mining issues to wildlife and water quality, but Fish and Game said that’s not its job.
On Tuesday, the advisory committee sent a letter to Alaska Department of Fish and Game, requesting an analysis on wildlife and water impacts from the proposed expansion of the Palmer Project.
In May, Constantine Metal Resources applied for two state permits to allow for sub surface exploration.
The permits are the first step in Constantine’s second phase of operations: building a wastewater treatment system and a waste-rock storage facility that will support blasting a mile-long tunnel into rock in the Glacier Creek valley for further, year-round exploration.
A public comment period ended May 30.
Fish and Game submitted its comments to Alaska Department of Natural Resources, but the advisory committee said the document lacked information about potential impacts of proposed mining activity.
“In this half page letter, there are four sentences describing local fish distribution, and one sentence which refers to hazing wildlife out of the project area,” advisory committee chair Tim McDonough wrote.
Southeast regional supervisor for Fish and Game, Kate Kanouse, who penned the original document, said on Tuesday that it is not Fish and Game’s jurisdiction to comment on the permits, since the proposed activities are not in fish-bearing waters.
“It’s really hard to separate the difference between water quality and fish habitat,” she said. “But we’ve got to find it because our job here at Fish and Game is not to manage or permit changes in water quality or evaluate potential effects for those changes because that’s not our expertise.”
McDonough said evaluating potential impacts of toxic metals flowing downstream seems to fall under Fish and Game’s purview.
“It sounds like you’re saying ‘that’s not our deal, that’s DEC’s (Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s) deal,” he said. “Boy, that gets frustrating. This water is flowing downstream, it’s kind of hard to imagine how this can be addressed as isolated water bodies.”
The committee’s letter asked state wildlife biologists to address the effects blasting might have on nearby habitats.
“While Constantine should be commended for assessing the potential effects of their activities on mountain goats, songbirds, and cliff-nesting raptors, they neglected to address any other wildlife impacts—most notably bears, bear dens, and wolverines,” McDonough wrote.
The advisory committee asked that Fish and Game analyze how acid-generating rock runoff or contamination exceeding water quality limits might potentially affect downstream fish.
“The draft (wastewater management permit) also allows for overflow discharge of wastewater directly into Glacier Creek, bypassing the wastewater treatment system in the case of unforeseen tunnel seepage outflows, storm water, system failure, freezing, or other problems. This wastewater is not expected to meet DEC water quality standards. What are the potential effects to downstream fish and habitat?”
Kanouse said ADF&G’s responsibility is to focus on fish habitat permitting, which is not required for the current exploration project.
After hearing Kanouse’s response, McDonough said the advisory committee would copy DEC with the letter.