April 2007, Issue 4

LightHawk's new monthly update, WayPoint, was created to share some of the good news we on staff learn about daily. Each month, you will receive a LightHawk success story that illustrates the critical role we play in conservation efforts throughout North and Central America through the unique perspective of flight. We hope you enjoy WayPoint and will share with others our success stories from above.

LightHawk Flights Protect Pristine Alaska Wetlands

With the help of LightHawk, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) and Earthjustice received some good news last month, when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco stated that it intends to rule in their favor. A mining company, Coeur Alaska, had planned to dispose of toxic mine tailings into a freshwater lake. The Court, presented with photos from LightHawk missions, ruled that the disposal plan would violate the Clean Water Act. LightHawk flew multiple missions over the years to photograph and monitor activity by the mining company.

The proposed Kensington Mine is 45 miles northwest of Juneau. Coeur Alaska would have disposed of 210,000 gallons of polluting mine waste per day into Lower Slate Lake, ultimately totaling 4.5 million – an amount that would kill all aquatic plant and animal life. Lower Slate Lake is located at the base of Lions Head Mountain in the Tongass National Forest and is surrounded by forest and wetlands that drain into Berners Bay… just two miles away. Considered an Alaskan treasure, the Bay supports local commercial and sport fisheries, provides commercial catches of shrimp and crab, and is home to abundant wildlife including herring, eagles, Steller sea lions, seals, humpback whales, bears, moose, and wolves. The Bay is also culturally significant to the Auk Kwaan, the original settlers of Juneau.

Federal regulations prohibiting hard-rock mining companies from dumping their tailings into lake, streams or rivers were weakened several years ago, allowing the tailings to be renamed as “fill” and acceptable to dump in lakes and streams.

Berners Bay, near the future site of the Kensington Mine. Rob Cadmus/SEACC/LightHawk

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The mine company cleared trees around Slate Lake and finished construction on a number of roads. SEACC/LightHawk

Coeur Alaska’s Kensington Mine was considered a test case by the Army Corps of Engineers. Coeur Alaska stated that they would have restored the lake after the mine closed in 10 years, but technical tests about restoring the lake were inconclusive with no clear showing that it could be accomplished. The court denied Coeur Alaska’ application to build a drainage ditch and wrote in its statement that “all construction-related activities furthering the implementation of Coeur Alaska’s plan of disposing tailings into Lower Slate Lake should cease and not be undertaken”.

Although this is not a final ruling, the court’s statement gives us a peek into how the court intends to rule regarding the challenge to Kensington's tailings permit. While this is a huge victory for LightHawk, Earthjustice, and SEACC, the most important winner is the Alaskan wilderness and those who enjoy its beauty and bounty.

Quote From The Flight

"… the flight let us see the progression of the Kensington mine. The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council has filed a lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers permit that allows them to dump toxic mine waste into a freshwater lake. This is the fist time since the passing of the Clean Water Act that a mining company has been authorized to use a freshwater body as a waste dump.”
-- Rob Cadmus, Water Quality and Mining Organizer, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council

This WayPoint is dedicated to Larry Mussarra who recently passed away after a battle with cancer. Larry flew many of these missions. He will be greatly missed, but more importantly celebrated for all of his amazing work to protect the land he loved.

About LightHawk

Founded in 1979, LightHawk is a nonprofit, volunteer pilot-based organization that flies environmental missions in collaboration with a network of more than 120 pilots and hundreds of partner organizations throughout Central and North America. LightHawk flights provide a powerful and effective platform for research, groundtruthing, environmental awareness and education.

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Contact Information

International Headquarters
LightHawk
PO Box 653
Lander, WY 82520
Tel.: (307) 332-3242
Fax: (307) 332-1641
Email: info@lighthawk.org

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