Conservation organizations challenged a controversial wastewater discharge permit for the Palmer Project, a proposed multi-metals mine at the Chilkat Watershed’s headwaters. Earthjustice filed an appeal in Alaska Superior Court on behalf of Lynn Canal Conservation, Rivers Without Borders, and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council seeking more protective standards for wastewater discharge from mineral exploration conducted by Constantine Metal Resources Ltd (Constantine), a subsidiary of Vancouver, B.C.-based American Pacific Mining.

Regional groups seek tougher standards to protect Chilkat Watershed from Palmer Project wastewater

In a partial win for the Chilkat Indian Village, salmon and conservation groups, additional water quality analysis is now required to safeguard against mining

In a final agency decision issued on an administrative appeal, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) upheld a flawed waste management permit for exploratory drilling at the Palmer Project mine in Southeast Alaska while also determining that more work must be done to ensure Alaska’s water quality standards are not exceeded due to wastewater from the mining project.

Groups argue that U.S. Bureau of Land Management must consider future impacts of mining before approving advanced hardrock exploration

The Chilkat River—“Jilkaat Heeni” in the Tlingit language, meaning “storage container for salmon”—runs from its headwaters in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, into the sea near Haines, Alaska. The watershed, which includes the Klehini River, provides spawning grounds for all five species of Pacific salmon, as well as anadromous eulachon and trout. The…

Constantine Mine Complaint

Groups say agency must consider impacts of potential development before allowing project to advance beyond point of no return