‘Mining 101’ comes to Nome
Representatives of state and federal regulatory agencies visited Nome last week to offer a one-day “Mining 101” workshop, with explanations of mining practices and permitting processes that affect the region.
“Our main takeaways were the importance of this type of engagement with communities potentially affected by current or future mining, the value of presenting the training and information in conjunction with other state and federal agencies, and the benefits of there being a wide range of attendees,” said Lisa Olson, a mining advisor for the Environmental Protection Agency.
“In planning the mining information session, along with the technical information, we knew it was important to provide discussion time, and we are grateful to those who participated and for the meaningful discussion,” Olson added.
The workshop speakers included representatives not only from the EPA, but also from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
The Native Village of Council’s environmental staff had initially requested the training before the pandemic, but then Emma Pate, an environmental coordinator with Norton Sound Health Corporation, took over the planning. Pate said the request for the training was mostly born out of tribes that had concerns about mining impacting their rivers and streams.
Pate said she hoped to see future training over a longer workshop period rather than just a day. She also said that there was at least one concern raised during the meeting that she plans to follow up on: That those mining offshore right in front of Nome are only required to measure the turbidity of the water. They don’t have to measure the salinity, pH, conductivity, presence of macroinvertebrates and other standard data parameters to identify any potential changes in baseline environmental conditions.
Among the participants’ suggestions was a recommendation for more outreach and communication on potential mines in the area. Some in the workshop, for instance, had expressed concern about Graphite One’s exploration, and explained to the agency officials that residents in villages like Teller need more communication about developments in such projects beyond public notices posted online.
The federal representatives also brought news of some potential changes to mining policy. Last week, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Interagency Working Group on Mining Laws, Regulations, and Permitting issued its final report to Congress with 60 recommendations for reforms to improve mining U.S. public lands.
The report is aimed at modernizing the Mining Law of 1872—and it foresees an increase in mining projects due to the recent interest in domestically produced critical minerals like graphite.
Some suggestions in the report can be undertaken without any legislative action from Congress. For instance, the report recommends that federal permitting agencies engage with impacted communities and tribes before the start of the formal environmental review process.