With election day less than two weeks away, campaigns for candidates and ballot initiatives are trying to secure every vote they can. This week, a campaigner for Ballot Initiative 4, called the “Bristol Bay Forever” initiative, spoke with KTNA’s Phillip Manning.
Few issues have consistently drawn as much debate over the last few years in Alaska as has the Pebble Mine. The Pebble Partnership’s goal is to establish a large mining operation in the Bristol Bay area. The fight over the mining project comes from those concerned about the region’s abundant salmon fishery. The November 4th ballot will include an effort to place another layer of required approval on large mining projects in Bristol Bay by expanding an existing law. Anders Gustafson, Executive Director of Renewable Resources Foundation and Coalition, explains what Proposition 4 looks to change.
“The law said that any oil and gas development that would happen in that area would need to seek approval of the legislature, or therefore the people of Alaska. So, we’re looking to amend that existing law to include mineral leases as well, because we think that, if the rules are good enough for oil and gas, that large-scale mining should have to follow the same rules.”
Gustafson says that it is “large-scale mining” that is the real target of the initiative. He says that small operations would not be subject to the requirement of legislative approval.
“The initiative was really drafted specifically for the large metallic-sulfide mines over 640 acres, which is a square mile. So, you’d have to be a very, very large impact…”
The Pebble Project would be subject to the law, if passed. Over the course of the last year, Pebble has suffered a number of setbacks, including partners walking away from large investments and difficulty finding new investors. Anders Gustafson says that, even if Pebble ultimately does not go forward, other projects could still emerge in the mineral-rich area.
“What we don’t want is to have to have these same PR fights for five years for another project in the watershed, because, really, the goal has always been to protect this watershed.”
Anders Gustafson says that, by adding the requirement of legislative approval, Proposition 4 would return some of the decision-making power over large Bristol Bay mining projects to the people of Alaska. That vote by the legislature would come after the normal permitting process that already exists. Gustafson believes that elected officials should have a say, since they are ultimately accountable to voters.
Some current state legislators disagree with the initiative. Wes Keller, who currently represents the Upper Valley in the State House of Representatives, says he trusts state agencies, like the Department of Natural Resources, to make an informed decision. Representative Keller is running for re-lection, and expressed his beliefs regarding Proposition 4 during KTNA’s Su Valley Voice last month.
“The point is, bluntly, that you don’t want–we don’t want–the legislature, and the politics that happens in the legislature, involved in the permitting process. That would be a risky way to go.”
Wes Keller’s Democratic challenger, Neal Lacy, says he wants to protect Bristol Bay salmon. Unaffiliated challenger Roger Purcell says he will vote ‘no’ on Prop 4.
State Senator Mike Dunleavy, who is also running for re-election, said on Su Valley Voice that making mining decisions subject to the legislative process could hold risks down the road.
“You may have a very sympathetic legislature and governor here in the future to take a hard look at these projects from an environmental standpoint, but what happens if that changes? What happens if you get a group of folks in there that want to use the political process to ramrod projects down the throats of communities?”
Mike Dunleavy’s challenger, Independent candidate Warren Keogh, will be asked about his position on Prop 4 next week on Su Valley Voice.
Anders Gustafson says that the argument of politicizing the issues of large mining projects in Bristol Bay is moot, and points to the Pebble Project as an example.
“When I hear [that] it’s politicizing, I think what you’re doing is you’re involving Alaskans; you’re involving the public. Yes, that, by nature, is political, but, as we’ve seen over the last seven or eight years, Pebble Mine is very political…”
Proposition 4 will appear on the November 4th general election ballot, along with two other initiatives and a number of races for political office.
The text of Prop 4 can be found at the state’s election website.
