Earlier this year the City and Borough of Juneau tasked a group of Juneau residents with looking at the positive and negative attributes of the possibility of re-opening the AJ Mine, a vast assemblage of tunnels and other mining infrastructure that sits on top of a significant amount of gold-bearing hard rock substrate just next to downtown. The city directly owns much of this extremely valuable asset, and it is prudent and sensible for our elected leaders to encourage the community to consider what value the asset might yield to all as a source of jobs, positive economic activity, and funds. At the same time, the prospect of a large-scale hard rock mining operation in downtown Juneau is going to be met with justifiable scrutiny.
Scrutiny does not, however, mean saying no to something before it has even been fully investigated, let alone begun in earnest.
One of the only points of consensus in the AJ Mine Advisory Committee’s final report is that the integrity of Juneau’s principal drinking water source, Gold Creek flowing down through the Last Chance Basin, must be protected if the possible re-opening of the AJ is to be pursued. I couldn’t agree more, because a safe and secure supply of drinking water is essential to our lives here in Alaska’s Capital City. Our water comes from two sources, Gold Creek and also from the Salmon Creek watershed out near Bartlett Regional Hospital. Gold Creek yields a vastly more dependable supply of water than Salmon Creek, reliably throughout the year, while Salmon Creek is seasonally unusable due to turbidity that renders the water unpalatable, indeed not potable, at times.
It is a little amazing that Juneau hasn’t previously undertaken an investigation of alternative water sources separate and distinctly from the conversation about the AJ Mine. With our population of over 30,000 people and our status as the capital city, we simply can’t afford to take the chance that our water supply will be interrupted or even significantly compromised. Even without figuring out how safely to extract and sell the piles of gold that could be commercially mined from the AJ Mine, there are many ways Gold Creek is less than ideal as a watershed. This past summer there was a huge landslide at the end of the Perseverance Trail; over the past decade there have been regular rockslides and other geologic upheavals at many points along Last Chance Basin. Old buildings have slowly fallen into the upper reaches of the creek — who knows what will happen farther upstream as time goes by? Despite ordinances requiring dogs to be on leashes and other rules to protect Gold Creek, this is hardly a carefully secured area. In truth, there are plenty of potential threats to Gold Creek as a water supply.
We live in the middle of an extremely moist rainforest with lots of possible alternative water sources. It really can’t be too technologically or logistically formidable a task to devise options for not continuing to rely on current sources of water. Fortunately, the Assembly has directed city staff to address the matter. This doesn’t need to frustrate progress on possibly re-opening the AJ Mine. In truth, Juneau needs to improve its water infrastructure whether or not the AJ is to be re-opened. The former objective must not be allowed to become a point of false contention in the AJ debate.
Assembly debate has raised whether the money appropriated to further exploration of how best to address Juneau’s future water needs is too focused on the mining angle. I trust city staff to address the primary issue on its own merits, and to come back to the Assembly and the public with a report that lays out where we are in terms of water needs and how best to address them. Unfortunately, some may participate in the water-policy conversation whose real goal is preventing the AJ Mine from re-opening at any cost. Just as those who have used red herring arguments in opposition to the Lynn Canal Highway and the Kensington Mine over the years, their credibility is diminished.
We are extremely fortunate to live in a place where we have more options for securing clean, palatable water than we even know. I’m not a hydrologist, but I’m sure most of our country envy the panoply of water resources with which we are blessed. Let’s focus on this simple truth, and make progress on this vital issue. Other and separate debates about more divisive matters can occur discretely.
• Brown is an attorney who lives in Juneau.
Comments (22)
Add commentwhy do it now? There ARE
why do the study now?
We all know there ARE other more pressing issues in Juneau and the need for a second source of H2o is certainly not a pressing issue. This study is in fact a red herring. Just like "saftey" was the red herring for building a second bridge. There are a few private entities that stand to gain and at the least they should be footing the bill for the study & not the tax payers. Lets see the list of all the parties to the AJ mine that stand to gain and send them their share of the $250,000. then refund the rest to the Tax payers of Juneau.
ben ben ben, you are a lawyer and you sound just like one and you have worked as legislative lobbyist for the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce right, well that explains your crap to me.
I for one have lived in Juneau my whole life and if I wanted to live next to a mine I would moved to the bush thats where I would expect to see a mine, not in the heart of our capital city!
keep the debate seperate from
BENJAMIN BROWN - wants this debate seperate from the AJ Mine? Well I wonder why?
and does this make sense to anyone?
"Unfortunately, some may participate in the water-policy conversation whose real goal is preventing the AJ Mine from re-opening at any cost. Just as those who have used red herring arguments in opposition to the Lynn Canal Highway and the Kensington Mine over the years, their credibility is diminished"
Ben - Although you think that the concerns raised during the Kensington Mine case were just "red herring arguments" the Kensington Mine rulings set our countries Clean Water Act back over 30 years hurting the whole countries water supply! Consider the "fact" that many people actually do care about "water-policy" and mining, especially when we have dirt bag lawyers fighting for the rights of Industries to dump their waste into our water supplies! Which they can now do thanks to individuals like you and the Kensington Mine.
The Kensington Mine is a disgrace to our state!
Speaking of red herring and diminished credibility...
Speaking of red herring and diminished credibility, what do you call those who would spend a $Billion in public funds to build a new permanent seasonal road right past a temporary gold mine (and other powerful private interests) to a new ferry terminal at a new dead end?
The red herring here is Mr. Brown's feigned interest in our community's water supply. It's true, he is no hydrologist, but he is quite the mouthpiece for blind development and those with a Midas mentality.
"the AJ Mine, a vast
"the AJ Mine, a vast assemblage of tunnels and other FAILING mining infrastructure......
hey Ben are your children going to be lured into working there?
You can tell who the pied pipers of Southeast Alaska communities are, they are the ones carrying $GOLD$ FEVER!
The AJ mine is nothing but a Pied Piper Creamery for Alaskan poor and under educated youth.
Ben isn't saying anything
Ben isn't saying anything that hasn't already been said by someone else, and doesn't deserve personal attacks. That being said, there's nothing new here.
oh spare me Sheqelim.
oh spare me Sheqelim.
trent
Hugged your tree lately
al97
Citizens of Juneau stand to gain the most if the mines reopened. With over 700k projected ounces of gold to be mined maybe we could do away with the 4% temporary sales tax, establish another economic base & grow our population which might justify the new niceties like an unneeded high school, unneeded pool & unneeded parking garage.
seacc
Sabotaging Economy's in Alaska's Costail Communities
Gold prices will come down,
Gold prices will come down, then what?
Who wants a town built on a boom and bust cycle?
I would far rather pay a sales tax, its a small price to pay compared to loss of life and if thats all it takes to keep our town as it is then so be it! I like Juneau just as it is today, and do not want to see all this gold change it.
Some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. We have a wonderful town here, maybe those that keep trying to change it should move.
hop along islandhopper!
hop along islandhopper!
hop
Joanne: loss of life? Do you mean that sightseeing helicopter that crashed several years ago killing all aboard? Or the gentleman off the cruise ship with dementia that went off hiking & 2 years later another hiker happened upon his remains? Or was it that float plane trying to return tourists from taku lodge that went down due to fog? Loss of life?
" I like Juneau just as it is today, and do not want to see all this gold change it" Written like a true NIMBY I've got mine to h-ll with you. & if you don't agree with me hop along
Sure Joanne, sure
ho
Ho by the by Jo, "maybe those that keep trying to change it should move."
Juneau was founded on mining.
But please stick around & continue contributing to our diversity, it's what makes strong communities.
One Billion Dollars
What could our community do with that amount of money?
We could retire a bunch of debt that the City has in various bonds. That would save us $20 million per year, and reduce property taxes.
We could do serious energy upgrades on all of our public buildings. Make them as efficient as possible. That will save us money and decrease heating oil usage, as well as reduce electrical demand.
Create a Green Energy Fund to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades on businesses and residences. Maybe an incentive program coupled with a revolving loan fund to pay for efficiency improvements along with installation of heat pumps, pellet boilers and stoves, and perhaps wind turbines and solar panels where they make fiscal sense.
Create a waste-to-energy system for our landfill/waste water plant sludge. And implement an aggressive curbside recycling program.
How about buy AEL&P and make it a City-owned utility like most of the other Southeast utilities are?
Create a scholarship fund to help make Juneau kids the most educated kids in the country. Perhaps help UAS improve some of its local course offerings, both academic and vocational.
Put the rest into a 'Juneau Permanent Fund' which pays for our portion of school funding - about $25 million per year - out of the accrued earnings.
Yeah, there may be some impacts on the community. Definitely our water system needs to be protected. There will be some noise and traffic concerns. And the mine will demand a lot of extra energy that we don't have to spare. But since WE are the owners, we should have a lot of say over how those impacts are minimized. That would be a whole lot harder if Coeur was the owner.
Tough times could be in our future. The price of oil will go up, at the same time the pipeline could shut down. The economy outside could crater even further when President Palin takes over. Property values could crash and the cruise trade could dry up.
But we are in a position to define our own destiny. We could turn this resource into something of durable value to our community, making us more sustainable, smarter, and more prosperous. Let's not allow knee-jerk ideology, from either end of the spectrum, prevent us from making a fully informed, pragmatic decision.
ich
Ich my understanding about the taku access road is that is was tabled due to BC & first nation Indian Tribe not wanting it. This (as I recall) was back in the late 80s early 90s. Maybe it'd be worth revisiting if they get closer to opening that mine. After all a road might cost more but it would likely be safer & more efficient than a hovercraft.
Want to drink Slate Creek?
Wow, I am glad BB can separate mining and water quality so easily as justice and truth. Creditability diminished? check out Coeur's compliance record at:http://www.epa-echo.gov/cgi-bin/get1cReport.cgi?tool=echo&IDNumber=110028070487.
For those not so inclined, they have violated their discharge permit on solids, sulfate and toxicity (by 264%!) in just the first quarter this year. This is with a new state of the art water treatment system. They are killing Slate Creek just like they killed Slate Lake. and if your waiting for DEC to step in, well do not hold your breath. I for one do not want to be vindicated when that earthen dam breaks 50 or 100 years from now and Berner's Bay is destroyed.
But go ahead and separate the issues. I prefer my water with barley and malt.
akguy
Alaskaguy, tried your link, says page cannot be found.... Must be a conspiracy blasted Coeur they must've seen your post & hacked the page. Anyway I did get a chuckle with the slate lake bit. Did you mean the pond, that'll be a lake when done?
islandhopper
ok, I will hold your hand a little. Google EPA ECHO, open the page and then enter your zip code (99801, if you need reminded) and choose "Table Search" just below. Scroll down to Coeur. Under the first entry click on the red C "view compliance report". Now please have the integrity to post what you found. While you are at it please look at a map of Berners Bay and tell us what the title says on what is now Tailings Storage #2.
I for one am very glad islandhopper will not be producing any science on Last Chance Basin.
alaskaguy
been there done it & nowhere did I see your accusation documented
Only the truth will set you free
Well then I do not know what to say. Because apparently you are the only one. Pointing out facts are not an accusation, but I realize that facts do not get into your way. I can understand someone not able to navigate an admittingly clunky website and not having the intellectual curiosity to persist, but you say you cannot find a map that says Slate Lake rather than pond?
Anyways I now realize that you are not worth the time. As my grandfather used to say when dealing with ideologues, "you can't argue with someone who is right".