World’s largest congregation of bald eagles threatened by proposed mining on Alaska’s Chilkat and Klehini Rivers

The Chilkat and Klehini rivers are critical wildlife habitat and sustain the current and ancestral homelands to the Chilkat Tlingit and the people of Haines, Alaska. The proposed Palmer Project, a copper/zinc mine, will seriously impact the rivers of the Chilkat Valley, crippling the entire ecosystem.

The Klehini River is a main tributary to the Chilkat River, and together they flow through the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, where the world’s largest congregation of eagles takes place every year. The Chilkat watershed also supports five species of wild salmon and a large brown bear population.

Please join us in urging Congress to direct the EPA to intercede immediately and require the mining consortium to apply for a standard wastewater discharge permit that will require meeting all applicable state and federal Water Quality Standards.

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Dear Senator Murkowski and Representative Peltola,

I am among the thousands of Americans in Alaska and the rest of the country who recognize the urgent need to protect the Chilkat and Klehini Rivers in Southeast Alaska. The Chilkat/Klehini watershed has been named one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers by American Rivers. This critical watershed supports all five species of wild salmon, hundreds of brown bears, and the world’s largest congregation of bald eagles – our nation’s symbol. Additionally, it provides the foundation for the culture, sustenance, and economy of the Tlingit Village of Klukwan, one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in North America, and the town of Haines, Alaska.

It is hard to imagine a worse place to site a copper/zinc mine, given the known toxicity of trace amounts of copper and other heavy metals to salmon. The proposed Palmer Project would be located in a tributary that flows directly into the Klehini River a few miles before it merges with the Chilkat River and enters the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. The Preserve cannot protect the Chilkat Valley's bald eagles if we allow the waters and fish that sustain them to be contaminated with toxic waste.

Challenges have been filed to permits issued by an underfunded, understaffed, and unconcerned State agency to the consortium developing the Palmer Project that will authorize the digging of a mile-long tunnel under the Saksaia glacier. This will create a waste stream of hundreds of thousands of gallons of contaminated water every day, in perpetuity. Independent hydrological analyses have confirmed that the State agency’s review of the project has been significantly flawed, and their decision to support the proposed permits could be extremely detrimental to this critical watershed.

Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must act now to ensure the fundamental protections guaranteed by the federal Clean Water Act are upheld and a grave environmental injustice is not committed. EPA must intercede immediately and tell the State of Alaska to direct the mining consortium to apply for a standard surface water discharge permit that will require meeting all applicable state and federal Water Quality Standards. One of the most unique and biologically diverse ecosystems in our nation must not be sacrificed for the short-term profits of these foreign mining companies.

There is no time, nor water, to waste.

Sincerely,

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