Opportunity to Oppose the Manh Choh Project Transportation Corridor
There’s an opportunity over the next few days to submit objections to the Manh Choh proposed trucking plan (and the overall mine) to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR).
Comments must be received by ADEC and ADNR by March 13th at 5 PM
Peak Gold LLC has proposed developing an open pit gold mine approximately 10 miles south of Tok, Alaska, in the Upper Tanana Athabascan Village of Tetlin. The mine site, the Manh Choh Project, is located on top of a group of low hills in the northern part of a lease between Tetlin and Peak Gold LLC and would be accessible from the Alaska Highway, on the approximately 5-mile Tetlin Village Road "Manh Choh (Twin Road)," and the approximately 9-mile Project access road "Manh Choh (Site Road)," both on Tetlin Land.
The current plan involves trucking mined ore on public roads on and around FNSB land. The trucks would purportedly be 165,000 pounds each and travel 24 hours a day.
Update: due to a big community effort (and lots of testimony) on the part of Advocates for Safe Alaska Highways and other partners, the FNSB Borough Assembly narrowly passed a resolution opposing the ore haul portion of the proposed Kinross Manh Choh project, joining the cities of North Pole and Fairbanks, who passed similar resolutions.
As Advocates for Safe Alaska Highways (ASAH) have noted, both ADEC and ADNR have tentatively decided to issue necessary permits, if no objections are received.
Information and supporting documents related to the permits are available here.
ASAH, which is specifically against ore hauling on public roads in regards to the Manh Cho mine, makes the following ask:
Now is the time to get your comments in the official record--comments which could prompt a public hearing. Of most importance is that both permits only cover the mine site at Manh Choh and ignore the waste management and reclamation of the entire transportation corridor. Possible points to stress in your comments include:.
Ask for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - or state equivalent - to be completed, including the entire transportation route from Tetlin to Ft. Knox. The ore is considered potentially acid generating (producing sulfuric acid when exposed to oxygen) and mineral-leaching. Fugitive dust and acid mine drainage (AMD) from the mine can be toxic to animals, aquatic life and waterways.
Ask DNR for an Environmental Assessment to determine if mixing Manh Choh ore tailings with the non-acid generating tailings at Ft. Knox will require a review of the Ft. Knox closure plans and the associated assurance bond Kinross has to post to cover future mitigation costs.
Ask that the plan include dealing with truck crashes, ore spills, spent tires and garbage left along the corridor, and spill cleanup along the transportation route. Manh Choh solid wastes will apparently go to Tok, Delta Junction, Fairbanks and/or Glenallen, according to the Manh Choh Solid Waste Management Plan, Revision 1, January 2023.
Object to the permits, ask for a public hearing and additional time to review all the records.
Comments must be received by ADEC and ADNR by March 13th at 5 PM
Update: Katie from the Northern Center has informed me that comments or issues specifically about the transportation plan might get discarded, so it’s more effective to focus on waste management and a better/more more intensive environmental review. There’s an excellent article from the Northern Center with additional suggestions here.
Comments for either permit may be submitted via email to: manh.choh.comments@alaska.gov.
You can use this link to send comments on the DEC permit.
You can read the comments that have already been submitted to DEC here. I usually prepare sample letters/comments, but there are some great existing comments to build off of at that link already.
To keep up to date on developments around this proposed mine and trucking plan, I recommend you follow Advocates for Safe Alaska Highways and sign up to their newsletter.
Thanks all, and have a great weekend.