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| No. 26 |
MINING IN MISTY
FJORDS NATIONAL MONUMENT |
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| The Alaska National
Interest Lands Conservation Act set aside 2,285,000 acres of Tongass
National Forest land in the Misty Fjords National Monument.
However, an industry-pushed exemption placed a 150,000 acre
non-wilderness designation for the development of the U.S. Borax
molybdenum mine at Quartz Hill in the heart of the monument. This
cancerous sore in the middle of the monument lies on a ridge between
two major salmon producing river drainage. The world class mine
would last 70 years, produce an open pit one mile wide, two miles long,
and a thousand feet deep. This would require 60,000 tons a day to
be mined and 59,890 tons a day of waste material. These mine
tailings contain high traces of such metals as lead, zinc, pyrite,
copper, and uranium. U.S. Borax, a subsidiary of the London based
corporation, Rio Tito Zinc, is proposing dumping these tailings into
the marine environment. This action would significantly fill up
the fjord chosen for tailing disposal. |
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The Federation of
Western Outdoor
Clubs supports the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council in its
continue fight to stop the mine. SEACC is currently involved in
several appeals forcing U.S. Borax to comply with the law during their
exploration and bulk sample phases of mine development. The
FWOC feels that if this mine is allowed to be constructed, the
integrity of the Misty Fjords National Monument and the adjacent marine
environment will be seriously impacted and the economic base for the
fishermen currently dependent on this area for their catch would be
destroyed. |
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