Court OKs Initiative for Ballot: ‘CLEAN WATER’: Mining Backers Fought the Measure.
By Elizabeth Bluemink, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska
Jul. 4–The Alaska Supreme Court issued a order Thursday allowing a “Clean Water” initiative to go on the statewide ballot in August.
Ballot Measure 4 would prohibit new large metallic mines from discharging harmful amounts of certain pollutants into drinking water supplies or salmon streams.
The initiative’s main target is the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine in Southwest Alaska, controversial due to its location near the headwaters of several rivers that feed Bristol Bay’s large salmon fisheries.
Mining companies around the state fought the initiative in court, saying they were worried that the it would harm many projects besides Pebble by preventing new mines from opening and existing ones from expanding.
So far, state regulators and attorneys have interpreted the initiative differently — they say the initiative doesn’t differ significantly from the state’s current pollution rules.
The sponsors of the initiative, who oppose the Pebble project, disagree with the state’s and the mining companies’ interpretations. They say the initiative will not shut down any current mines or prevent new ones from opening.
The initiative, if passed, would set a higher standard requiring state regulators to take the health of salmon stocks into consideration when they review developments on land and water, according to a statement from the pro-initiative group Alaskans for Clean Water, released on Thursday.
In its ruling Thursday, the court rejected claims by the Pebble Partnership, a coalition of mining companies called the Council of Alaska Producers and the Alaska Federation of Natives that the initiative is unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court has not yet published its full opinion in the lawsuit. The anti-”Clean Water” initiative group Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown said it remains deeply worried about whether the ballot measure could harm the mining industry in Alaska.
In a statement, the group said the initiative “ignores the fact that Alaska already has a strong, science-based regulatory process that is working to protect our environment.”
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Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.
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