KNBA Morning Newscast for Friday July 31, 2015
Nome Halibut
By Laura Kraegel, KNOM
For four communities affected by this spring’s poor walrus harvest in the Bering Strait region, help is on its way in the form of 10,000 pounds of halibut.
Nearly 200 boxes of the fish were delivered to Nome Wednesday, according to Donna James, the senior planner at regional nonprofit Kawerak. She says the delivery is being sorted and will soon be distributed to the communities of Diomede, Gambell, Savoonga, and Wales.
The halibut comes as a donation from SeaShare, a Washington state nonprofit that supplies seafood to hunger-relief efforts.
All four communities declared states of economic disaster after a spring harvest that Vera Metcalf calls “significantly worse” than usual. Metcalf is director of the Eskimo Walrus Commission and worked with the communities to declare their disasters.
The U.S. Coast Guard brought the frozen halibut to Nome free of charge, and James says Kawerak is working with local carries Bering Air, Erickson, and Ravn Alaska to organize free freight delivery to the four communities.
Although the donation is good news, Metcalf says it’s only a temporary solution as climate change makes hunting more difficult.
“In the event that another disaster is declared — What do we do? And how do we move forward? We need to come up with a long-term plan,” said Metcalf.
For now, Metcalf says the donation will be a big help, even if it doesn’t entirely solve the food shortages.
“I know it won’t fill the nutritional value that a walrus or other marine mammals provide, but it’s there and it’ll be put to good use,” she said.
The halibut will ship out as soon Kawerak can coordinate delivery with the different airlines. The nonprofit intends to distribute the fish equally to households in each community.
EPA, North Slope Borough reach settlement on hazardous waste violations
By the Associated Press
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with Alaska's North Slope Borough over alleged hazardous waste violations.
EPA officials said Thursday the borough stored more than 45,000 pounds of hazardous waste in Barrow without a storage permit required under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Officials say the borough also failed to perform at least five hazardous waste determinations at the site.
The EPA says the violations occurred between 2012 and 2014.
Officials say the waste included antifreeze contaminated with benzene, corrosive solvents and other materials. The waste has been removed.
EPA spokeswoman Judy Smith says the borough has 30 days to pay a penalty of more than $445,000 as part of the agreement reached earlier this month.
Acting North Slope Borough attorney Teresa Bowen did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
BC tribal protest triggers mining work stoppage
By Ed Schoenfeld, Coast Alaska
Developers of a mine on a Taku River tributary have stopped work after an on-site protest by a British Columbia tribal government. The Taku enters the ocean near Juneau.
The Hat gold and copper mining prospect is near the Sheslay River, a little more than 100 miles east of Alaska’s capital city. The Sheslay feeds into the Taku, a salmon-rich river used by commercial, sports and subsistence fishermen on the Alaska side of the border.
Vancouver-based Doubleview Capital Corp. has conducted exploratory drilling at the site for about two years. This summer, it ran into opposition.
“It’s just a very important place to our people,” said Day.
Chad Day is president of the Tahltan Central Council, which represents about 1,800 people in or from northwest British Columbia.
He says Tahltans have lived in the Sheslay area and some are buried there. He says it’s also an important place for hunting and fishing.
"That’s why we’re taking the position that we won’t be supporting any kind of exploration or mining activities in that area now or into the future,” said Day.
Day and a group of Tahltan elders visited Doubleview’s Hat prospect drilling site earlier this summer. They spoke to workers, including tribal members, as well as company officials, about their objections.
"Thereafter the president and CEO made a commitment that the Tahltan workers would pack up and leave and that the camp would be demobilized and that he would aim to work with us more moving forward,” said Day.
Doubleview officials did not immediately respond to interview requests. But a company press release acknowledges the meeting, as well as the shutdown, which it calls temporary.
In the release CEO Farshad Shirvani says, quote, “Our aim is to resume drilling as quickly as possible. … We are consulting with our legal counsel to determine the best steps to take to allow drilling to resume.”
Plans for the mine, plus at least two others in the Sheslay area, have caught the attention of critics downstream.
"The mines themselves create the usual worries of acid-mine drainage into a major and very productive Taku tributary,” said Simmer.
Chris Zimmer of Rivers Without Borders says that could damage the river’s fisheries, especially sockeye salmon, which spawn and hatch in the area.
He also points to plans to reopen an old access road.
"It’s this issue of the road becoming a can-opener for the region and leading to very, aggressive fast-paced development in an area that’s very critical for salmon habitat and First Nations traditional hunting and fishing as well,” said Zimmer.
The Tahltans are not the only tribal group with claims to the area. The Taku River Tlingit First Nation has an extensive land-use plan negotiated with the provincial government that includes the Sheslay river and valley.
That plan shows at least part of the area open to some development. Taku Tlingit leaders could not be immediately reached for comment.
The British Columbia’s Ministry of Mines issued Doubleview an exploration permit about three years ago. The agency says that came after consulting with the Tahltan and Taku First Nations.
Tahltan Central Council President Chad Day says that’s not the case.
He says Tahltan leaders are not opposed to all resource development.
They negotiated an agreement this year with Imperial Metals’ Red Chris Mine, in the Stikine River watershed.
"It’s a controversial project for some people. But at the end of the day, we put all the terms past the Tahltan Nation and 87 percent of the nation supported the Red Chris co-management agreement,” said Day.
The mine began full production recently. Day says Tahltans are working at the mine site.