Alaska Clean Water Advocacy, which has been fighting to protect the Clean Water Act in Alaska for decades, recently won a small victory in its ongoing efforts against a proposed copper/zinc mine upstream from the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in southeast Alaska. In July, the Earth Island project managed to convince Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to remand a permit to the controversial Palmer Project, The preserve was created to protect the world's largest concentration of bald eagles and their critical habitat, including natural salmon runs in the Chilkat River. The DEC initially issued a discharge to groundwater permit instead of a surface water discharge permit, which would require more background information, stricter limits, and a federal review process. The company behind the proposed Palmer mine, Constantine Mineral Resources, asked for the weaker permit, hoping it would go unnoticed. If and when the permit is finally revoked, the permitting process will start over, setting the development back a year or more. ACWA hopes that after losing almost the entire 2019 building season, investors may be getting nervous and thinking twice about the project.
