A state administrative law judge will hear concerns raised by the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan (CIV) and environmental groups about a plan to discharge mining wastewater into the Klehini River watershed.

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC)commissioner Jason Brune late last month approved a request from Earthjustice — a law firm representing CIV and five environmental groups — for a hearing about the wastewater discharge plan at the Palmer Project, an exploratory mining operation northwest of Haines and Klukwan.

Arguing that discharge of water with potentially elevated levels of pollutants near Glacier Creek would cause “irreparable harm,” Earthjustice also asked the state to suspend its approval of Constantine’s discharge plan, but Brune has not announced a decision on that request.

Constantine Mining — which was acquired last year by American Pacific Mining Corp. and operates the Palmer Project as a joint venture with Japan-based Dowa Metals & Mining — opposed Earthjustice’s requests for a hearing and stay. The Alaska Division of Water also opposed the stay request, saying requestors did not demonstrate they would suffer irreparable harm from construction of the wastewater discharge system and from the discharge itself.

“Any contaminated water that reaches surface water will create an unacceptable risk of harm to the economy, ways of life, and political integrity of Chilkat Indian Village (Klukwan),” Earthjustice lawyers wrote in a filing to the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings, adding that construction of the discharge system also could cause harm through “noise and disturbance of wildlife,” increased traffic and erosion along Glacier Creek.

The Division of Water’s lawyers said the argument that contaminated water would cause irreparable harm is based on “mere speculation” and that requestors “make general claims of contamination without any further detail” — a statement that Earthjustice disputed, saying it had provided specifics about how pollution could occur.

Constantine’s plans for underground exploration would be delayed if a stay were granted, according to filings submitted by the company last month to the Office of Administrative Hearings. Underground exploration will involve drilling a mile-long ramp beneath Saksaia Glacier and into a shoulder of Mt. Henry Clay.

If the stay were granted, the ramp might not be completed until 2025, and an extra year of leasing and maintaining its construction camp could cost Constantine $1.5 million, according to the company’s filings. Last year Constantine said it was planning to begin underground exploration this summer, but now, even if a stay isn’t granted, it doesn’t expect to begin until 2024, according to the filings.

“The start of underground exploration is under discussion and hasn’t been finalized at this point in time,” American Pacific Mining Corp. president and CEO Warwick Smith said in a statement to the CVN.

About 25 jobs are tied to construction of the wastewater discharge system and exploration tunnel, according to the filings.

To be granted a hearing, CIV and environmental groups didn’t need to prove they would suffer irreparable harm, only that they would be adversely affected “if the harms in the contested issues occur,” administrative law judge Lisa Touissant wrote in her recommendation to hold the hearing.

“The decision speaks for itself,” Smith said in a statement to the CVN about the state’s decision to grant a hearing.

The hearing will deal with four contested issues, including whether Constantine needs not only a state permit, but also a more stringent federal Clean Water Act permit, to discharge wastewater; whether the Alaska Division of Water should have given public notice of its decision to approve Constantine’s revised wastewater plan last spring; whether the division properly responded to public comments and concerns about the revised plan; and whether the division’s decisions comply with the state’s guidance on water quality standards.

Constantine last spring revised its 2019 water management plan, proposing to add active treatment and to expel wastewater in a new location, where scientists contracted by the company said discharge would be less likely to pollute.

A hydrogeologist commissioned by CIV disputed that conclusion in a report submitted to the state over the summer, and ADEC commissioner Brune remanded the issue for further review. The Alaska Division of Water upheld its initial approval, saying the revised system would be likely to pollute less than the original design.

CIV and environmental groups including Lynn Canal Conservation, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and Takshanuk Watershed Council appealed the decision in November.

“We would like all governments to work together to protect Jilḵáat Aani Ḵa Héeni (Chilkat River watershed) for safety and health of all people. This is not an unreasonable request,” CIV Vice President Jones P. Hotch Jr. said in a press release at the time of CIV’s appeal last fall