Pebble Creek Mine

As a pro-business conservative and an honest, educated environmentalist I am expressing my opposition to the proposed Pebble Creek Mine in Alaska. This is both a pro-environment and pro-business position, though it is anti-mine. Here is how.

The mine is to be placed near Lake Iliamna, at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay Salmon fishery. It will drain the headwaters from Upper Talarik Creek and the Koktuli River, possibly drying these rivers, and at least drastically reducing the water volume they carry. These are all important salmon spawning and nursery habitats that would be negatively, possibly catastrophically affected by the drainage.

Mines use a lot of hazardous chemicals in the extraction and processing of ore, and they release a lot of hazardous chemicals from the Earth as a byproduct of mining. The hazard in this is demonstrated in numerous dead streams across America, as well as rivers and lakes where the fish are considered unsafe to eat due to heavy metal poisoning. By placing any metal mine at the headwaters of a delicate fish habitat it is possible to wipe out the entire salmon fishery and put many hardworking fisherman out of business. The damage done by these toxins could make the river uninhabitable to fish for decades.

A little mentioned fact regarding mining activities near rivers is the fine materials that go into the water and are considered non-hazardous rock. While these fine rock particles are 100% non-toxic they present a different problem. Natural silt is smooth, having been broken and worn down by natural processes. The fine particles produced by mining are sharp, and they literally shred the gills of fish, choking g them to death after enough damage has been done. The chance of these fine particles slashing the spawn rate of Bristol Bay Salmon is unacceptable. The probability of the fry and fingerlings being killed before they migrate to the ocean is also unacceptable.

The Bristol Bay salmon fishery is a vital Alaskan resource. It provides jobs, and it provides sustenance. The three ways that the proposed Pebble Creek Mine would damage this fishery would rob us all of this important resource. The risks are known, and they are unacceptable. The fact is that any one of these problems will damage and possibly destroy the local ecosystem. The fact is that all three will happen. There is no chance of these risks not happening. Every metal mine that I know of on a river has these problems.

It is also possible that the contamination of the river could affect the ocean fisheries I the nearby area as well. This makes the proposed Pebble Creek Mine even more unacceptable.

There are times when the environmental cost far outweighs the economic gain of human activity. These cases are all extreme cases with profound impacts on both man and wild. This is one of them.