"Never. ever in the history of restoration has anyone ever dug down 300 feet to the geology and the hydrology of a salmon system and put it back together. And experts have not been able to find any examples of where it has been done." Bob Shavelson-Cook Inlet Keeper
Miles of wild salmon streams will be destroyed by the Chuitna Coal Mine. Photo courtesy of Alaskans First.
On August 21, the Department of Natural Resources will hear competing claims to water rights for salmon streams in the Chuitna river watershed or for a coal mine. The Chuitna Coal Mine has the support of Alaska's Republican Senators , Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.
PacRim LP, a Delaware-based corporation, which "holds a state lease to 20,571 acres of Alaska Mental Health Trust property where an estimated 1 billion metric tons of low-sulfur, sub-bituminous coal is thought to exist.[4] Proven reserves are reported to be 771 million tons.[5] The company is in the advanced stages of state and federal mine-permitting processes.[6] PacRim has surveyed three Logical Mining Units, or LMUs, within its lease. If permitted, the company has said it plans to extract up to 12 million metric tons of coal from the first of these units over a minimum period of 25 years. Other LMUs, could be developed in future years.
The surface coalmine itself could eventually spread to cover 30-square miles, but the project also would include assorted support facilities, a mine road and a 12-mile-long, covered conveyor system to transport coal to Cook Inlet at Ladd Landing where a port facility would be built. Ladd Landing is property owned by the Kenai Peninsula Borough and subject to a lease-option held by PacRim" per Wiki.
The streams and land in this area is a renewable resource to Alaska’s economy, culture and it includes five species of wild Pacific salmon, sockeye, coho, chinook, pink and chum salmon. These five species use the Chuitna River and its streams to spawn. Salmon are keystone species in these environments because animals and humans rely on them as part of their diet. Environmentalists and local activists are rightly alarmed that the strip mine activities would displace 57 miles of salmon streams all to produce 12 million tons of coal per year to be shipped to China.
Integrated Hydro Systems and the Wilderness Society prepared a detailed report and noted the following:
The Chuitna (Chuit River) Watershed is located about 45 miles west of Anchorage on the northwestern side of Cook Inlet near the Native Village of Tyonek and the community of Beluga (Figure E-1). It is an important ecosystem that supports five species of Pacific Salmon, several species of resident fish and a variety of wildlife such as moose, brown and black bears, wolves, beavers, bald eagles and numerous other species of migratory birds. The watershed consists of a large network of nearly 200 miles of streams that drain about 150 square miles into Cook Inlet. Factors affecting streamflow within this ecosystem are complex and strongly influenced by seasonal changes in climate and dynamic interaction with the groundwater flow system. Groundwater flows are critical to salmon habitat because they cool surface waters in warm months and heat them in cold months. Salmon spawn, rear and overwinter in areas with groundwater upwelling or downwelling which provide oxygenated water at temperatures conducive to development and survival of eggs and juvenile fish (Groot and Margolis, 1991). Because of climate change associated impacts in Alaska, such as wetland drying, rapid glacial retreat, increased bark-beetle infestations and fires, concerns are mounting about similar impacts of climate change on these sensitive hydrologic systems that are fundamental to the integrity of the entire watershed ecosystem. snip The PacRim Coal, LLC mining company (PacRim) is currently pursuing a permit to extract approximately 300 million tons of coal from what would be Alaska’s largest open-pit coal mine (~5,000 acres). Part of PacRim’s proposed plan involves removing about 11 miles of salmon spawning and rearing habitat during a 25-year mining operation. PacRim conducted local baseline characterizations of surface and groundwater hydrology around the proposed mine area, but has not yet develop an integrated understanding of how the surface and groundwater interact within the watershed. This is important because to fully understand how climate change or mining/mine reclamation impacts the system hydrology, especially downstream of the mine, the integrated hydrologic flow system must be well understood. Juneau Empire highlights the bullshit that PacRim can restore the hydrology system. PacRim wants to completely remove a salmon-producing stream, perhaps digging down hundreds of feet, and rebuild it once the mining operation ends, she said."There is no evidence that anyone has been able to put this kind of stream back together again," Zamzow said Monday.
About 20 percent of the Chuitna River salmon stocks come from the stream, she said.
Two other nearby salmon-producing streams also likely would be affected because of disruptions in groundwater, said Lance Trasky, a retired biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and author of one of the reports.
The scientists found that restoring the wetlands that feed into the Chuit River would be impossible.
"There is no scientific evidence that wetlands or streams can be put back together to be living, healthy ecosystems after the kind of mining impacts described in the PacRim reports," said Margaret Palmer, director of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland and author of one of the reports.
Trasky said he searched the scientific literature and talked to experts and did not find one case in which salmon habitat that had been strip-mined was successfully restored.
"It is not clear it can be done," he said.
Trasky also found that there is insufficient data on Chuitna salmon populations to know how much harm the proposed mine would do.
Commercial fisherman Terry Jorgensen said the reports throw doubt on the company's claims that its mine won't have significant impacts on the Chuit River.
"The law requires that the mined areas be returned to pre-mining condition after the coal has been extracted, but there is no scientific evidence that a salmon stream mined through in the manner PacRim proposes can ever be restored," Jorgensen said.
President Obama will be going to Alaska Aug. 31 to Sept. 3. He will visit melting glaciers and meet with local fisherman and hunters in an attempt to highlight the issue of climate change.From the LA Times.
"What’s happening in Alaska isn’t just a preview of what will happen to the rest of us if we don’t take action," he said. "It’s our wake-up call. The alarm bells are ringing. And as long as I’m president, America will lead the world to meet this threat — before it’s too late."Later in September, Obama plans to talk with Pope Francis about climate change when the pontiff visits the White House during a tour of the northeastern U.S., as both prepare for an international climate summit in Paris in December.
Chuitna - More Than Salmon On The Line Trailer from Trip Jennings on Vimeo.
This is a true David vs. Goliath situation and the local residents would appreciate any coin you could send their way.
ACTION: