Teck Cominco settles Alaska air-quality charges
Date: 20-Dec-01
Country: USA
Author: Yereth Rosen
The settlement, which also includes $248,100 in suspended fines,
attempts to address some long-standing complaints about Red Dog, the
world's biggest zinc producer, state officials said.
"There have been a number of environmental concerns raised in northwest
Alaska about the mine," said Tom Chapple, director of air and water
quality for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
The settlement arose from a state and federal inquiry last year of
air-quality practices at the lead-zinc mine.
Last year's investigation by DEC and the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency resulted in 18 alleged violations of the mine's air-quality
permit.
State officials said the settlement has already produced results.
"Teck Cominco took these alleged violations seriously, as it should, and
is now working to see that these types of careless mistakes don't happen
again," Alaska Attorney General Bruce Botelho said in a news release.
Red Dog is about 600 miles (970 km) northwest of Anchorage.
Ore is extracted from the mine and trucked 52 miles (84 km) to the
Chukchi Sea coast, where it is stored for most of the year. Shipments
from the port occur during the brief ice-free summer.
Although the alleged violations concern just mine air-quality issues,
the settlement also mandates improvements at the port and along the
road.
The settlement calls for the company to donate $230,000 to a regional
Native group that monitors the mine's impacts on traditional food
harvests, to set up water-quality and air-quality inspections at
villages close to the mine and to follow new safety rules along the
road.
About half of the mine road lies within the Cape Krusenstern National
Monument. A study released earlier this year by the National Park
Service found that plants along the road had elevated levels of heavy
metals.
Residents of Kivilina, the village nearest to the mine, have complained
about possible contamination of their drinking water. This summer, the
Kivilina tribal council asked the state to shut down the road. The
request was denied.
One environmental activist said the settlement failed to address some
broader issues, including the accumulation of heavy metals contamination
over the years.
"I'm glad to see that DEC is doing something, but I think it's too
little, too late," said Pamela Miller of Anchorage-based Alaska
Community Action on Toxics. Teck Cominco promised better future
operations.
"Teck Cominco remains committed to responsible environmental
performance," Bob Jacko, general manager of Red Dog operations, said in
a prepared statement. "We will continue to work diligently to
immediately address each and every environmental concern and avoid
future noncompliance."
Already, Teck Cominco has taken steps to control ore dust, said
Charlotte MacCay, senior environmental adviser for the company's Alaska
unit.
Outside of the settlement with the state, the company is devoting $16
million to the problem, including $8 million for a special type of
pavement for the mine road, MacCay said.
The Red Dog Mine began operating in 1989. It is a major economic engine
for northwestern Alaska, a sparsely populated region where the
settlements lack outside road access.
The mine operates on Inupiat Eskimo land owned by NANA Corp., the
regional for-profit Native organization set up by the 1971 Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act.
The mine pays about $6 million in annual royalties to NANA and 60
percent of the mine's employees are NANA sharehold ers, Teck Cominco
said.
