Around 33 fishermen, residents, tourism business owners and local state and national environmental organizations issued a statement refusing to be interviewed by a consulting company hired by Constantine Metal Resources, saying the process is a public relations effort “rigged in favor of mine development.”
Constantine hired environmental consulting company Hemmera to gauge residents’ questions, concerns and thoughts about mining at the Palmer Project 40 miles north of Haines.
Two Hemmera consultants were in town the first week of December conducting interviews. In its letter inviting feedback from residents, the company said its plan was to advance discussion “in order to better understand the project and how to maximize the benefits of the project and mitigate the negative impacts.”
Critics of the consulting process say it assumes a mine is inevitable.
“I don’t agree that the mine’s a foregone conclusion and we all have to accept it and mitigate the impacts,” resident and tour operator Joe Ordonez said. “I’m concerned about the messaging that’s coming out of this whole process, especially the messaging being controlled by Constantine.”
Great Bear Foundation executive director Shannon Donahue said Constantine is using Hemmera to conduct what the mining industry calls “social license to operate,” building community support for a development project.
“It’s not about legitimately finding out ‘Do the people of the Chilkat Valley want a mine?’ It’s about giving us the illusion we have a choice,” Donahue said. “Basically, they’re mining our community for information they can use to build a mine.”
JR Churchill, of Haines Fishermen’s Alliance, Jessica Plachta of Lynn Canal Conservation, and Gershon Cohen of Alaska Clean Water Advocacy were among the local groups who declined to offer feedback. Graham Kraft, Lindsay Johnson, Robin Grace, Debi Knight Kennedy, Dan Henry, Neil Einsbruch, Thom Ely and Stacie Evans were among the 23 residents who signed the statement.
Not all environmental organizations declined to participate. Takshanuk Watershed Council board president Ben Kirkpatrick said the board discussed whether or not to comment to Hemmera and decided they wanted their feedback on record.
“I understand some of the concerns,” Kirkpatrick said of those who declined to participate. “But if we have concerns or questions, which we do, we want those to be known. As long as Hemmera reports what we say, we don’t see any problem with cooperating.”
When asked to comment, Hemmera directed all media questions to Constantine.
Constantine vice president of community affairs Liz Cornejo said the process is to find out what topics residents are interested in talking about, and how that might be done. “We hope those issuing the statement might reconsider,” Cornejo said. “They can engage at any time throughout the process as well. We’re sorry they didn’t feel it was a meaningful engagement opportunity.”
In its letter to residents, Hemmera said Constantine employees would not be present during the interviews, and would not be given access to the interview summaries. The consulting company will give Constantine a list of who participated, along with a summary of key topics gleaned from the interviews.
The consultants will return to Haines on Jan. 27 to conduct more interviews. Those interested in providing feedback can contact Emily Mann at [email protected] or call 867-456-4865.