A major tailings spill at the proposed Donlin Gold mine in Alaska could cause deaths, bury a nearby village and leave some environmental effects lasting more than a century, according to a new federal study.
The US Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released the court-ordered draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for Novagold’s Donlin Gold mine on Wednesday, examining a failure that would release about 27% of the mine’s tailings capacity. A previous study had only examined a 0.5% spill, but the court recognized that a larger spill was reasonably foreseeable and ordered a new study.
The fresh scenario could bury Crooked Creek in tailings and likely render the village uninhabitable, while metal contamination downstream could persist for more than a century, according to the SEIS. Fish abundance in the Kuskokwim River could remain lower for generations, while edible plants and other onshore resources could also be harmed.
“Our primary concern all along has been the Kuskokwim River, which has sustained our customary and traditional practices for generations,” Organized Village of Kwethluk President Mary Nicolai said in a statement issued by environmental law group Earthjustice. “The Court recognized the importance of this sustainable resource we have always relied on and that must be protected by law, but unfortunately the study the federal agencies prepared still falls very short of doing what it needs to do.”
Donlin Gold hosts approximately 40 million measured and indicated ounces grading 2.22 grams gold per tonne, including mineral reserves, making it one of the industry’s largest and highest-grade undeveloped gold deposits.
NOVAGOLD (TSX, NYSE American: NG), which has agreed to consolidate 100% ownership of the project, expects Donlin to produce about 1.1 million ounces annually over a 27-year mine life, with average annual production rising to about 1.3 million ounces during its first decade due to higher initial grades.
Overarching destruction
Larger spills could cause erosion and long-term contamination risks in the soil, permanently alter vegetation, and wetlands could become uplands, with recovery potentially taking more than a century.
If the tailings storage facility (TSF) fails, a toxic wave of mining sludge would strike the village of Crooked Creek in just 90 minutes, leaving little time for emergency evacuation, the Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition said in a statement.
The hydrology of the region would also be greatly impacted, inundating thousands of acres, altering stream channels, creating groundwater mounding and impacting the drinking water source supply and protection area for decades. The much larger volume of water in the Kuskokwim River is expected to dilute contaminants and limit downstream effects.
Wildlife in the area could not only die from a spill, its contaminants and impacts, but they would also lose their habitat. This would be felt especially for aquatic, riparian and small-bodied species for decades, causing generational effects. Birds could be impacted by contamination exposure, but population levels shouldn’t be greatly impacted.
Land use would mostly be disrupted by evacuations, restrictions and response activities. No matter the spill size, it would greatly impact recreation activities, visual resources and sociocultural aspects of the region, including economic losses.
Communities would be exposed to contaminants, face evacuations and could lose their lives if they are in heavily affected areas, especially when spills impact transportation and evacuation procedures.
“This mine poses a threat to our traditional subsistence ways of life, and to the environment and fisheries of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta,” Native Village of Eek vice president George Alexie said in a statement to Earthjustice. “A disaster upriver will impact the whole region. Despite promises of safe protocols and procedures from Donlin, a tailings dam failure remains a significant risk to our entire region.”
Many of these more extreme impacts would only happen in a larger spill accident, the SEIS shows, and it said cleanup efforts could help reduce the scope, magnitude, and duration of impacts.
More work to do
The US Army Corps is accepting comments on the draft SEIS from Sept. 23 through Oct. 23, with public meetings and hearings scheduled in Alaska and online in October. After the 30-day review period, a formal public document will be prepared by the agencies to document the decision to modify, reaffirm, or rescind the permit for the Donlin gold mine.
The communities in the area said the SEIS should’ve examined a larger spill scenario than 27%.
“While we implored the federal government to consider a total failure scenario, which they did not do, they are confirming that a dam failure of just 27% could kill people, poison our drinking water for decades, and wipe out salmon for generations. We cannot, and will not, trade the safety of our children and our rivers for a gold mine that will last only 27 years,” Ashlynn Simeon, Deputy Director of Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition said.
If the mine permit still is affirmed after the analysis and public feedback, they ask NOVAGOLD to take further measures to minimize the risks of a spill and its adverse impacts.
“A tailings dam failure is a low-probability, but high-consequence event, and a threat which exists at every mine with a mine waste facility. Schools, hospitals, rest homes, police and fire facilities should not be built in areas that could be flooded,” Dr. David Chambers with the Center for Science and Public Participation said. “If you don’t know how deep the flood might be, and how fast it will arrive, you cannot be prepared to save people’s lives.”
NOVAGOLD didn’t answer to MINING.COM‘s request for comment.
Source: https://www.mining.com/ngos-warn-donlin-mine-spill-could-devastate-region/
