An influential article written by Orv Mallott
We all like to ponder a "what if" once in a while, so I am pondering this what if because no one ever thanked me for saving the worlds oceans and seas. You what? you say. How in the world could you have saved the worlds waters from pollution? I wrote the article below that stopped the copper mine on the Tatshenshini River in Alaska from being built.
If my article was never published here's what may have happened: unknown years ago an earthquake collapsed two mountain-sides on the Tatshenshini River creating a 20 mile long valley. This valley is what they intended to dam to hold the runoff water from the copper mines. Twelve years later the dam would be filled to capacity. As this was anticipated, a second dam was to be built below the first using fallen trees, huge boulders then filled with dirt and sand.
Imagine that the crew celebrated the 13th year of operation and the copper was now just about all gone. 666 days later a tremendous earthquake breaks both dams and unknown trillions of gallons of polluted copper slurry roar into the North Pacific. The only people that know what happened live in Yakutat.
300 days later the entire Pacific is polluted, 100 days later the Indian Ocean is polluted, 7 months later the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and all other gulfs and bays of the world are polluted.
I think I'm a bloody hero, what do you think? Will someone please email me and thank me for saving the world's oceans?
Canadian Copper Mine Threatens Gulf Resources
Alaska Fisherman’s Journal, Nov. 1992, Vol. 15 p.25 – Fisherman’s Forum
By Orville B. Mallott
I’ve recently returned from a tour to our beautiful state of Alaska. This included a stop in Yakutat, where I have family and friends. I was disturbed to find that this area, like so many areas today, is undergoing a threat that undermines its very existence. This threat is as real as Chernobyl but with far more devastating potential.
Yakutat, on the upper reaches of the Alaska panhandle, is surrounded by some of the most beautiful mountains on earth and is accessible only by sea or air. A virtual Shangri-la that is home to fewer than a thousand people. The majority of these residents are descendants of those who came over the land bridge eons ago. A group known as Tlingits stopped here, finding there was no need to continue on. They found Eden, where "when the tide is out the table is set.” It is this very table which is today in danger of extinction.
Yakutat’s table, as well as the tables of many other Alaska villages, is served by the tide, tidal currents and what has been referred to as the largest river in North America. This river, larger than the Mississippi, is commonly referred to by Alaskans as Royer’s River. This river is described in the U.S. Department of the Interior Publication, MMS 86-0113, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Environmental Assessment Program. It consists of the combined flows of all fresh water pouring into the Gulf of Alaska from this great panhandle. The fresh water stratifies on top of the heavy salt water and forms a band up to 10 miles wide which hugs the coast and travels counter-clockwise in excess of two miles per hour. The nutrient-rich river is home to much of Alaska’s multi-million-dollar seafood industry which sets tables around the world. It is this river that can carry the destruction to the entire Gulf of Alaska and North Pacific Ocean.
Within that beautiful mountain range which isolates Yakutat from the rest of the world is an area known as the Tatshenshini and herein sits a 6,200-foot mountain known as Windy Craggy. Beneath this mountain lies some six billion dollars’ worth of copper and byproducts. It is the potential profit from the mining of that ore that threatens the way of life for Alaska and much of the rest of America. The mining of the ore jeopardizes the purity of Royer’s River. If Royer’s River becomes polluted, Yakutat will undergo immediate catastrophic loss of its seafood industry and a way of life as old as any on this continent. The flow from the Tatshenshini-Alsek River makes up that part of Royer’s River which drifts directly into Yakutat Bay. This flow is clearly shown in Landsat photos which are taken regularly and are described in the OCS report mentioned above. After Yakutat the rest of the Gulf will fall. The permanent loss of Alaska’s seafood industry would easily eliminate the minimal profit from the Windy Craggy mine. It is the potential loss of this industry that has many Alaskans and others worried. The copper market is already glutted, and the price of the ore barely covers the cost to produce it. So what’s the need for a break-even operation that rapes Mother Nature?
I have 30 years’ experience in project level design of complex automated systems for the handling, processing and storage of industrial raw materials and finished products. Because of my background I feel competent in stating that this project poses a very real threat which must be fully addressed from the engineering aspects of zero defects and fail proof design! After all the ore is removed there will be a need for onsite personnel to monitor the waste. It will take centuries for the waste to neutralize. The monitoring systems must be redundant, fully automated to report any breach of environmental concern. If, after having done everything humanly possible to prevent it, there is a problem or catastrophe, immediate response will be mandatory. To fund the response a perpetual bond with annual escalation would be required. This bond would not only have to cover the cost of cleanup and restoration of all ecosystems, it would have to cover the loss of livelihood etc. for individuals affected. 'The worst thing that could happen needs to be addressed.
Ongoing acid drainage from the mine is the big concern. Acid rock drainage (ARD) has devastated areas all over the North American continent because of lack of concern and attention to environmental needs. Many of the older, now abandoned mines would not have been economically feasible or even allowed if the environmental concerns of today had been adequately dealt with when the mines were put into operation. Perhaps the Windy Craggy mine will not appear so attractive if the whole picture is taken into consideration.
In 1899 the strongest earthquake ever recorded on the North American continent was centered 75 miles away from the mine site. Land masses were lifted as much as much as 50 feet and glaciers advanced a half-mile during the quake. Eyewitnesses could not remain on their feet and were thrown about like match sticks. Does this sound like a good site for a mine?
The mine developers, Geddes Resources Limited, have proposed a four-mile-long lake (tailings pond) contained by an earthen dam If the dam ruptures the contents of the lake will be dumped into the Tatshenshini River, flowing into the Alsek, flowing into Royer’s River, flowing into Yakutat Bay and beyond. The lake isn’t the only concern; the biggest problem is that of preventing the ARD. Once exposed, the sulphur-laden ore waste will bleed sulfuric acid for centuries. To top things off, this mining site is reported to have an acid-producing capability that is five to six times higher than other known mines in British Columbia.
The treaty of January 11, 1909 between the United States and Great Britain (Canada) states that "waters flowing across the boundary shall not be polluted on either side to the injury of health or property on the other side.” This proposed mine will surely violate that treaty. Even the exploratory work is of great environmental concern and is already discharging ARD into the adjacent glacier. The mine isn’t even in production and already there’s a problem that needs to be cleaned up.
At this writing the review of the Geddes Mine Plan, by the B.C. authorities is suspended pending completion of a provincial land and water use plan for the Tatshenshini-AIsek region. When this plan is complete and if mining is approved for this region, please be prepared to do your share to see that our environmental needs of the Gulf of Alaska are addressed. The Windy Craggy mine cannot be allowed to become a festering reality. A few months after this article appeared, development of the mine was shut down.
O. B. Mallott
P. O. Box 23283
Federal Way, WA 98023
Or, write to me: obm7@comcast.net if you are interested in exploring this further. If you wish, give me your phone number and I'll call you from mine.
