Government mining agencies defended their regulation of the industry while watchdog and conservation group representatives said additional citizen-led protections are necessary for safe mine operation during a panel discussion and presentation Tuesday at the Chilkat Center.

Panelists seemed to generally agree that large mines in Alaska are more tightly regulated for fisheries impacts than mines elsewhere, but disagreed on the extent of impacts on fisheries and water quality to date.

More than 100 residents turned out, including assembly members Mike Case and Ron Jackson. An identical event was held Wednesday in Klukwan.

Takshanuk Watershed Council organized the event, which was sponsored by a number of organizations including Constantine Metal Resources, which is exploring the Palmer Project, a potential mine at 40 Mile.

Speakers included University of Alaska professor Bob Loeffler; David Chambers, director of the Center for Science in Public Participation; Guy Archibald, mining and clean water program manager, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council; Kyle Moselle, large mine project manager for Alaska Department of Natural Resources; James Whitlock, environmental mine scientist, Bureau of Land Management; and John Hoppe, BLM geologist.

Each speaker was allowed a 20-minute presentation and participated in responding to questions from the audience.

Chambers said a mine tailings dam fails somewhere in the world every eight months and that in seven recent, prominent failures, public agencies paid the majority cost of cleanup. An “expert” review of the August tailings dam failure at the Mount Polley mine in British Columbia made several recommendations, including that:

∙ Safety should drive tailings dam design, not cost;

∙ Wet tailings facilities should be prohibited; and,

∙ Companies use ‘best available practices’ including independent review panels.

Loeffler countered that Mount Polley dam was not built on bedrock, unlike all large mine dams in Alaska. “I’d mostly recommend going to bedrock, but that’s not always possible,” Loeffler said.

Asked to compare Alaska and British Columbia mine regulations, Chambers said there were weaknesses in both systems. “There’s too much discretion given to regulators doing their work independently, without more guidance.”

At Mount Polley, regulations weren’t tight enough to provide information that could have tipped off regulators to its weakness. “This dam was failing three different ways,” Chambers said.

DNR’s Moselle said that he had “every confidence in Alaska’s regulatory framework.” BLM’s Whitlock said, according to his agency’s regulations, mining in Alaska can’t cause “unnecessary and undue degradation” of the environment. His agency inspects mines up to four times a year for compliance with mine plans.

“We expect mine plans to be consistent with new technology. You are required to use standard practices and procedures,” Whitlock said.

But SEACC’s Archibald said citizens should cast a skeptical eye toward terms like “unnecessary degradation.” Federal water quality standards were set in 1978 and allow copper effluent at 300 parts per million, compared to 3.4 parts per million standard for aquatic life, he said.

Copper effluent at Greens Creek mine is 150 parts per million, and the state allows “mixing zone” dilution to reach compliance after waste water is discharged.

“There’s no technical reason why (Greens Creek) water can’t be treated down to an aquatic water quality level. But if the state gives (mines) a mixing zone, what’s the incentive to treat water to a higher standard?” Archibald said after the meeting. “Getting new technologies into statute will be difficult,” he said.

Archibald encouraged citizens to participate in development of mine regulations. “You have to be involved. You have to look at the data and know the limits of the data. You have to become the science expert in your watershed.”

Constantine’s work at 40 Mile largely inspired Tuesday’s meeting, but the company wasn’t invited to speak at the event.

Liz Cornejo, Constantine’s co-manager of the Palmer Project, said she was encouraged by the turnout. “There’s a lot of interest. I think it’s probably the first of many meetings and many discussions and I think it’s really important that everyone speak and be heard.”

She declined comment on what she thought of panelists and whether she thought information they presented was fair. She said she wasn’t disappointed the company wasn’t included on the panel. “That wasn’t the intent of the meeting.”

In a separate interview, Cornejo said exploration work at the mine site will be reduced this summer, as funds are being spent on environmental and geotechnical studies. The company expects to spend $5 million there this year compared to $6.8 million last year.

The Japanese company Dowa, which is partnering with Constantine to finance the project, has spent $10 million of the $22 million it has committed to the work, Cornejo said.

She said the company expects to have two drill rigs and a crew of between 10 and 15 workers this summer. The company operated four drills last year.

Lynn Canal Gillnetters Association president Ryan Cook attended the meeting and said he was disappointed there wasn’t more information about mining and fisheries. “This (program) is very first-stage stuff.”

Members of his group are divided about mining, he said. Former Mayor Stephanie Scott, a member of the watershed council’s board, questioned what the town’s next step might be. She said a local severance tax or means of measuring social and economic impacts of a mine mightg be considered.

“We have to be involved. It’s going to be confusing. We have to rest in a state of confusion and not rush to judgment or freak out for a fairly long period of time,” Scott said.