The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly has approved a municipal water plan that attempts to prepare for the potential of an AJ Mine and continued community growth.
The plan includes projects for Juneau’s Salmon Creek and Gold Creek water supplies.
Both sources are considered high quality.
While Gold Creek is treated only with Chlorine, Salmon Creek receives chlorine treatment as well as the addition of soda ash to balance the water’s pH. This costs around $15,000 a year for ash and labor.
Salmon Creek also has turbidity problems and must be shut down often multiple times a year. Making Salmon Creek a secondary water source. The addition of a 4-million-gallons-per-day water filtration system could allow for year-round operation.
Currently Juneau draws as much as 2 million gallons per day from Salmon Creek with water rights that would allow up to 10 MGPD. Such a facility could be run for around $150,000 a year, according to CBJ staff.
Passage of Resolution 2620 by the assembly on Jan. 7 adopts the Municipal Drinking Water Supply Plan and directs City Manager Kim Kiefer to being planning and design of a Salmon Creek filtration system.
Several factors go into CBJ‚s efforts to continue expansion of the Salmon Creek source.
As more cruise traffic funnels through Juneau the city’s water supply will be expected to meet higher and higher demands from summer businesses, cruise passengers and cruise ships. Population is also expected to rise in the state’s capital city. In the last several years Juneau has experiences a jump in its population of nearly 2,000 — putting 2012 population numbers on par with Department of Labor projections for 2020.
There is also the prospect of an AJ Mine. If the mine is redeveloped, the mine operator would be expected to divert a flow of water that currently exits the mine in Last Chance Basin. This would somewhat deplete the total flow into Juneau’s Gold Creek well field.
Public testimony included both support and opposition to the plan. The common thread through all testimony was the desire to maintain Juneau’s high quality water supply. While some saw the plan as securing Juneau’s water, others saw the inclusion of AJ Mine contingencies as an additional threat and cost.
Tom Brice, president of the Juneau Building Trades Council, testified at the Jan. 7 meeting. He was joined in his support of the resolution by members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, local Operating Engineers, UA Plumbers, Ironworkers and Plumber and Pipefitters who were in the crowd.
Brice said his organization was very concerned that Juneau secure a sufficient supply of safe viable water.
“Not just now but into the future,” Brice said.
The municipal water plan does not adequately address the city’s water needs, Margo Waring said in her testimony. It does not contain a rational for multi-million dollar redundancy to the water system, she said, and does not contain the effects of the projects on taxpayers.
Waring also said not enough is known to document a current increase in demand that would necessitate expansion of the water supply. She said the city presented filtration as the preferred option for Salmon Creek when no other option was presented.
Waring said the money could be better spent.
“Why are we building a redundant system when our current system needs maintenance,” Waring said.
University of Alaska geophysics professor Roman Motyka testified that maintenance is the most important need for Juneau’s water supply.
The Gold Creek well field needs rehabilitation as well as much of the infrastructure that supports the well field, Motyka said. Salmon Creek’s dam is 100 years old and sedimentation and recent landslide have reduced the carrying capacity of the reservoir, he said.
Guy Archibald mining and clear water coordinator for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council.
Archibald said he was concerned that Juneau’s water plan remains coupled too closely with redevelopment of the AJ Mine.
“This all started with the advisory committee that identified that the threats to the drinking water supply was the major stumbling black to promoting the AJ Mine,” Archibald said.
“All of these threats (to Juneau’s water supply) that were identified were related to mining,” Archibald said. “It would seem that this rather quick push to build a redundant water system seems to be is primarily to promote the AJ mine.”
If the water system improvements are primarily for the AJ Mine, Archibald said, maybe a potential AJ Mine operator should foot the bill.
“There will be a lot more threats than clean water,” Archibald said.
Mayor Merrill Sanford said the goal of increased water supply is necessary because the city is already taxing its Last Chance Basin wells. Juneau is also selling a larger and larger volume of water to the cruise ship industry.
Assembly Member Karen Crane said she felt there had not been enough public discussion on the issue of Juneau’s water supply. She said she would also like to see the plan decoupled from development of the mine.
“We would save ourselves if we put more time and effort into this,” Crane said.
Assembly Member Randy Wanamaker disagrees. He said much public discussion and hearings on the matter have already taken place.
The plan, Wanamaker said, developed out of another project that looked into adequate water supply for both fire protection and drinking water — he reminded those present of the recent fire at the Gastineau Apartments.
Wanamaker said he started his professional career analyzing water quality and aquifer protection.
The plan is more conceptual and less detailed Assembly Member Jesse Kiehl said.
During the peak summer usage when seafood plants process fish and cruise visitors and ships are use the most water “we are overtaxing the wells that we have now,” Kiehl said.
Kiehl said Juneau should focus on the 3.9-million-gallon Salmon Creek reservoir before turning to the roughly 300-million-gallon Gold Creek aquifer.
“The future growth over the long term is better served by beginning to develop a filtration system for that massive reservoir at Salmon Creek,” Kiehl said.
The assembly voted seven to two to pass Resolution 2620 with Assembly Members Crane and Loren Jones casting the no votes.
• Contact reporter Russell Stigall at 523-2276 or at russell.stigall@juneauempire.com.
Comments (22)
Add commentDid you...
...type this one up on your iPhone, Russell? The Empire's first meaty article in several days and full of typos, incorrect words, and general incoherency. Why does the Empire even have an editor if he can't proofread articles or write his own "Empire editorials"? Sheesh.
Regarding the mine, the AJ Mine Advisory Committee's report on it from May 2011 is a good read - I recommend it. The amount of money CBJ would receive from royalties is surprisingly small - maybe $2.5 or 3 million per year. Much less than I had imagined. While that's still a significant amount for our city government, I'm less excited about developing it if the other impacts can't be adequately mitigated.
Water, water, everywhere!
But the gold is in the AJ. Thirty plus years of revenue and hundreds of high wage jobs for Juneau youth who don't want to work behind a desk!
Interesting,
If water, or the lack thereof, is becoming more and more of a problem? And said problem is being exacerbated by demand from the cruise industry? And an adequate supply of revenue would alleviate the problem (solve) RAISE THE PRICE TO THE CRUISE SHIPS!
Royalties are just part of it Lat
There is also property tax revenue on the mine improvements, sales tax, and the additional benefit of the economic development and jobs the mine will bring. To pigeonhole the value of the mine to just the royalties shows your anti-mine bias.
The effect to just cbj's governmental revenue could easily be 6-8 million and will probably much more. That is a lot of teachers or a lot less in property tax for all of us.
Extremists anti-mine viewpoints
SEACC and Waring are anti-business, anti-development. These people are already lining up against the mine. For SEACC, it is just good business. They need a boogie monster to fight so they can raise money from their sugar daddies down south. And Waring will just oppose the mine because it is pro-business. But it's also a little bit of class warfare for people like her too. Miners aren't good enough for the lib lefties. Blue collar, hard working people like the union people listed in this article who support this mine and miners aren't good enough for her and her league of women voter friends.
Water quality and quantity for JNU
According to the City Engineering report, the water quality from Last Chance Basin is much sweeter because it doesn't require the pot ash that Salmon Creek does. Are we going to pump all our sweet water onto the cruise ships so they can wash their laundry with it (few people drink the water that comes from ship's faucets) and then leave the "secondary" quality for Juneau to drink?
Russell, I have to agree with Lat. You really need to take more care with your work. Take time for one more read-through, beginning to end, out loud, before you submit. The way it is, it's difficult, at times, to grasp your meaning. When you say JNU's population is "on par with DOL 2020 projections," are you saying that we are on track with them, or do you mean we are already where DOL thinks we will be in 2020? And when you quote people but include or drop words, we can't tell whether the speaker or you are the one who is missing the mark.
Mr. Moses, will you please give Russell more help and oversight if you intent to keep him for a while?
Water and mining
A gold mine right in the center on the downtown area is a BAD investment. Tailing going into the channel is NOT good. Years ago when the AJ was open, people were not aware of the dangers of mine tailings. Today we are, and the risk to those of that live in Juneau is too high. Salmon from DIPAC come up the channel ,and will be contaminated. People fish from the DIPAC dock.
more information....
is clearly needed. Approximately how much revenue would the mine generate (in actual dollars direct to the city in royalties and property taxes)? How many people would the mine employ? Is the city prepared to insist that current Alaska residents fill a certain percentage of those jobs? How much will the rates to cruise ships be raised for water? Will profits from the mine go first towards maintaining our existing water systems and making sure locals don't see a 200% increase in water rates or worse while the city buys more bronze whales with the money?
Frankly - the assembly has made some pretty crap choices with my property and sales tax dollars in recent years, and it seems clear that there is still a lot of 'good ol boy' backroom talks and give-aways going on with regards to projects like this one, resulting in vague plans we're all just supposed to swallow because the mayor says so, which end up costing Me more money to build infrastructure and support for some company based in Idaho or England.
Not everyone who wants more information is an "extremist", fmast50.
Class warfare?
@fmast and all - It's true that 20-some percent of our population is capital D and 20-some is capital R. But more than 50% of us occupy that middle space where we don't care about partisan division ... no wait, let me rephrase that. For me, I believe the partisanship and labeling that each extreme attributes to the other is a pointless distraction from solving the real problem before us.
If those of us in the middle have to disregard the perspective of those on the left, we would have to disregard the perspective from the right. We benefit from listening carefully to both sides. Granted they are diametrically opposed when it comes to the bottom line, and we cannot make everyone happy; but we can and should find ways to mitigate all problems as much as possible.
It would be nice if we could discuss the water supply upgrade in isolation from the question of reopening the AJ, but no one is really naive enough to do that. I believe we need to try to stick with the discussion about the water supply to raise it to the point where we are happy with it, knowing that reopening the AJ is a discussion that will inevitably follow this one. We'll have to address the mine on its own merits in its own time. For now, let's just look squarely at this water issue.
Local businesses like Ael&p
Local businesses like Ael&p are pushing the mine on the majority of us; they are focused on making money.
Mine operator would be expected to divert a flow of water that currently exits the mine in Last Chance Basin - to where?
Backroom deals
@swimmergirl - I like your acknowledgement that we need more info. As to the backroom deals, I know people believe that might be the case, but I don't really think so. I didn't see it when I was there.
Mayor Sanford is, I believe, apologetically in favor of reopening the AJ because he knows that Juneau's financial situation is tentative at best. But I do not believe he or any of the other Assembly members would trade any amount of gold for the ability of this place to support our families.
Most people agree that we need to diversify our economy. Putting all our eggs into the Government and Cruise industry baskets has made us as nervous as rats in a laboratory maze. Which is weird, if you really think about it. We have prospered as a community and most of us as individuals. Granted both the State and the Cruise industry bully us with their threats to pull out, and I would never take them for granted.
The best we can do to weaken our dependence on individual sources of employment and revenue is diversify. On its face, reopening the AJ, which we actually have an ownership interest in, is something we owe ourselves to consider carefully. We need an open discussion of the realities so we can make informed choices. We need to weigh the costs and benefits of mitigation and if, in the final analysis, we come to a net benefit or a net loss, we can move forward from there armed with the facts.
When Mayor Botelho first refloated this idea, they said we were 10 years from production at best. I'm guessing we are easily 3 years from hiring an exploration company, if that is the way this ends up. Hopefully, the Assembly will hear enough from the public to know they need to invest the time up-front to have this public conversation to answer the questions you and others are raising.
Sorry no go junior
No mine until the city manages it's money better.
No go dudes. Zip.
That's your punishment.
I think of the gold in the
I think of the gold in the ground like the oil in the ground. There is no reason to allow anyone to push us into pumping oil out faster or mining gold right now. Especially considering the way this town votes to spend money that we have sign after sign will not be around in the long run and is already on the verge of disappearing. And yup, the assembly needs to start proposing funding projects on an individual basis. Packaging wants and needs together is shady and dishonest at best.
I'm all for updating our water treatment. As long as we don't end up paying for it all and the cruise ships don't contribute as they are the ones straining out water supply.
I'm for responsible development and think the mine can be done. But right now I don't trust our assembly not to give away our resources and then thank whoever is really profiting for what shavings thy leave for us. As well as they sure are not being responsible with our money when we all know financial hardships are just around the corner and they are bleeding money for every project with a few thousand people's signatures.
Ruth,
"The best we can do to weaken our dependence on individual sources of employment and revenue is diversify."
I'm all ears, what would you suggest? I like the beer people(then again, I like beer!) More logging? A new lumber mill? Cheap power to attract high tech? A cold storage to process fish? A ROAD for easier ingress and egress? A city owned RV park? That works well in America, longer time frames to extract revenue. I'm sure you have some ideas??
It is about the process
The mine owner and regulator responsible for putting profits over protection of our health are one and the same. That means that the entire process needs to be open and transparent as the resolution states. Unfortunately this is not the case already. 20 minutes of public testimony on the resolution was "enough" discussion? Refusing to answer the comments and questions submitted by citizens on the Water Study? Stating that the "voters have already voted for this" when they were only given a choice to fund or not fund parks, libraries and the water plant? Changing the mine ordinance at the request of Hecla and Coeur when it became inconvenient? Washing hands from any responsibility for the "centuries" of toxic waste management at Greens Creek?
CBJ can mouth the words "open and transparent" as much as they want, but that has not been their actions.
AJ or not, this is not the way to approach it.
I am very uncomfortable with
I am very uncomfortable with the ever increasing gray areas between CBJ and private businesses. Private businesses are benefiting financially from public monies.
The way I see it. Ael&p should at least be footing part of this bill because they are co-owners of the mine. Also mines and docks go hand in hand. The private docks downtown stand to gain from the AJ mine and these folks are being treated very well by CBJ. I see they have their hands out for CBJ funds collected via the Marine Passenger Fees. I believe these funds should not be going to private businesses.
I think a full investigation is in order.
swimmergirl is right-on!
One can endlessly speculate on how much additional revenue/jobs reopening the AJ-Mine might (or, might not) bring to Juneau, but there should be no debate when it's suggested that there are privately vested interests present.
AJ-Mine = "AJT Land Company = "A.E.L. & P", David Stone, E. Neil Mackinnon, and Gayle Wood.
A.E.L.&P. = William Corbus, Neil Mackinnon, and a host of minor share-holders (some of which are (and/or were) on the Juneau Assembly).
The big push for a full-time secondary water supply for Juneau didn't begin until talk of reopening the AJ-Mine got more serious. To date, all the studies concerning the Salmon Creek filtration plan have been financed by the CBJ... not by any interested mining companies. This most definitely saved these company's some coin, as the costs were picked from the pockets of the average Juneau resident. Aren't we in a budget crisis, by the way?
If one remembers, it was only a few short years ago, that certain Juneau Assembly members floated the idea of a no-interest loan to A.E.L.&P. to help repair the avalanche damaged towers. As it turned out, several members of the Assembly were coincidentally A.E.L.&P stock holders. Once that fact became public knowledge, the proposal was abruptly scrapped.
Vested interests... most likely. As for reopening the AJ-Mine being good for Juneau... only time will tell. But, one thing I am very sure of... if the mine does reopen - it will be very good for someone. But, as to "Who that will be?" will be (literally) the million-dollar question. As often happens in Alaska, "The odds are good... but, the goods are odd!"
The mining industry needs to
The mining industry needs to pay more.
The mining industry should start paying royalties just like the oil industry does.
What happens when the price of gold falls? Workers, businesses all leave town. Mining is a boom followed by a bust economy. Everyone will lose their shirts just like in the 80's when gold fell 60%.
population rising?
What? not in the last 5 years or so the populations
been steady.
$15,000 per year to maintain Salmon Creek sounds pretty good.
population rising?
What? not in the last 5 years or so the populations
been steady.
$15,000 per year to maintain Salmon Creek sounds pretty good.
population rising?
What? not in the last 5 years or so the populations
been steady.
$15,000 per year to maintain Salmon Creek sounds pretty good.
AJ
will re-open when when Chuck Keen raises from the ashes and builds a tram to the top of mount Juneau. We do need improved water project and the jobs it brings.
major changes needed!
you cant even get your drinking water cleaned up! how about that run off from the dump that stinks like taco bell all day! yup that hatchery is close and chlorine is poisen. lets start talking about your health in your enviroment! every time i come to town i cant believe the ppm of chlorine in your drinking water. it will kill you, destroy your imune system, and sterlize you!