The Klehini and Chilkat rivers were identified as “America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2023,” according to American Rivers, a national conservation organization.
The Klehini and Chilkat rivers were nominated by the Chilkat Indian Village and regional and local conservation organizations including Alaska Clean Water Advocacy, Lynn Canal Conservation, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and Rivers Without Borders.
American Rivers’ David Moryc said the organization receives between 35 to 50 nominations and selects 10 each year.
“We vet those nominations through an internal process,” Moryc said. “That’s why the list changes every year. There are rivers that could be on the list every year but the fact that there is a decision point that is timely is one of the criteria that leads rivers to ebb and flow on the list.”
A report from the organization this week cited American Pacific Mining’s and DOWA Mining and Metals’ planned exploratory tunnel at the Palmer Project that will result in wastewater discharge as a threat to the watershed.
“The reason that we nominated the Chilkat and Klehini rivers to the program is because (the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation) refuses to require the mine developer to apply for the correct permit, which is the basis of the challenge that’s now moving through the system filed by Chilkat Indian Village and conservation groups,” said Gershon Cohen, project director of the Alaska Clean Water Advocacy Project.
DEC commissioner Jason Brune late last year 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. 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.
“The purpose of getting these rivers listed is we are trying to get our congressional delegation and the (Environmental Protection Agency) to tell DEC they need to correctly implement the Clean Water Act,” Cohen said.
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 last summer, and ADEC commissioner Jason 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.
DEC Division of Water Program Manager Gene McCabe reviewed the American River listings report and said the organization “speculates heavily as to what a production-level mine, which has not been permitted or even applied for, would hypothetically entail.”
McCabe cited langauge from the report that he said misrepresents the project.
“There appears to be a degree of fear mongering in the very short report American Rivers posted without providing substance to words like ‘toxic’ or ‘huge waste storage pile,'” McCabe said. “The Division based its permitting decision on massive amounts of data, scientific studies, and engineering principles, all of which require a diligent process of documenting the basis for every assertion.”
The Chilkat River was also included on the list in 2019. Other rivers on American Rivers’ 2023 list of 10 include the Colorado, Ohio and Snake rivers.