Six Tribes in Southwest Alaska Win Legal Challenge Against the Donlin Gold Mine

September 30, 2024

Six Tribes in Southwest Alaska Win Legal Challenge Against the Donlin Gold Mine

Victory

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The federal court ruling in Alaska declares that a key federal permit authorizing the construction and operation of the world's largest pure gold mine violates environmental and subsistence protection laws

Contacts

Elizabeth Manning, Earthjustice, [email protected], (907) 277-2555

Legal document

Anchorage, Alaska-

In a major victory for Southwest Alaska Tribes who depend on the Kuskokwim River and the surrounding lands and waters for their continued existence, a U.S. District Court in Alaska ruled today that key federal agencies responsible for permitting the Donlin mine failed to fully consider the project's harms in the environmental study for the project.

Specifically, the judge's ruling found that federal agencies failed to realistically study the impacts to downstream waters and villages from a potentially catastrophic tailings dam failure. The mine developers are proposing to build a 471-foot-tall tailings dam to contain more than 500 million tons of toxic mine waste.

The court found that the risk of a catastrophic tailings spill was a 1 in 1,000 chance in a year or 2 in 100 (2%) in 20 years. As the court stated, "to put these numbers into perspective, these same odds for the risk of an airplane crash would likely deter nearly anyone from flying" and yet federal agencies failed to consider the risk.

In her order, Judge Gleason said the agency violated federal environmental and subsistence protection laws when it failed to assess the potential for a catastrophic tailings failure that could be caused by the massive gold mine.

The court will next decide, after arguments from the parties over the next five weeks, how to remedy this failure. Ordinarily, the court would strike down the permit, which is what the Tribes requested. However, mining interests are seeking to keep the permit in place while they remedy the flawed environmental impact statement and subsistence analysis.

Donlin Gold LLC, owned by the mining giants NovaGold and Barrick Gold Corporation, plans to build the massive open pit mine 10 miles north of the Kuskokwim River and the village of Crooked Creek next to a salmon spawning stream that flows into the Kuskokwim River. If built, Donlin will be the largest pure gold mine in the world in a critical watershed that Alaska Native people in the region have depended on for thousands of years.

A majority of Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Tribes have formally opposed the project through resolutions and six Tribes - Orutsararmiut Native Council, Tuluksak Native Council, the Organized Village of Kwethluk, the Native Village of Eek, Chevak Traditional Council, and the Native Village of Kwigillingok - sued in April 2023 to invalidate the permits. Three tribes filed initially, joined by three more tribes a month later.

Following are statements from some of the Tribes participating in the lawsuit and from Earthjustice, who represents the Tribes. Additional statements will be available later.

Walter Jim, Orutsararmiut Native Council Chairman: "This victory is incredibly important to our Tribal members who have been on this land for almost 10,000 years. The threat of the Donlin Gold Mine has loomed for many years now, posing unacceptable risks to the health of our lands, waters, fish, wildlife and our people. We are relieved and happy that the judge is requiring a harder look at the mine's impacts, and the risk of a tailings failure."

Boris Epchook, President, Organized Village of Kwethluk: "Our primary concern all along has been the Kuskokwim River, which has sustained our customary and traditional practices for generations. We are grateful the courts are recognizing the importance of this sustainable resource we have always relied on and that must be protected by law."

Maile Tavepholjalern, Earthjustice Senior Attorney: "The judge today recognized the federal studies that underpin the mine's permits failed to thoroughly consider the environmental and subsistence impacts of the mine. Now, the federal agencies will need to conduct a more honest assessment of the mine's impacts."

Background

The Donlin Gold Mine project, as initially proposed, would be the largest pure gold mine in the world. If built, the company is expected to extract 556 million tons of ore to produce about 30 million ounces of gold over the 27-year life of the mine - and would generate 2.5 billion tons of waste rock, some of which would generate acid drainage.

The mine project would include a 316-mile-long buried gas pipeline from Cook Inlet in Southcentral Alaska to the mine site; transportation infrastructure including a new port, a port expansion, and a tripling of barge traffic on the Kuskokwim River; plus the mine site itself that included an open pit, a processing plant, waste rock and tailings storage facilities, water treatment and power plants, dams and reservoirs, airstrips, and access roads. In all, the mine project would cover 25 square miles. After the mine's closure, the open pit would fill with contaminated water, forming a permanent lake that would require water treatment in perpetuity and would never meet water quality standards.

Additional Resources

• Related case documents & news
• About the Alaska Office

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