The Environmental and Economic Impacts of The Pebble Mine

Introduction

Home to 35 fish species and specifically 15 from the Salmonnidae family is the Bristol Bay. (Chambers, Moran, & Trasky, 2012) A vital ecosystem that is a biodiversity hotspot, Bristol Bay is home to the juvenile salmon who mature in the lakes and rivers and to the adult salmon who return to spawn. Threatening these species currently is the prospect of building the largest mine planned in Alaska. 10.8 billion metric tons of ore can be extracted to supply the global demand for copper, gold and molybdenum. Under the charge of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd & Anglo American PLC, this Pebble Limited Partnership threatens the local environment because of the large-scaled operations and the processes involve that are dangerous, the acid mine drainage for example. The potential of leakage would devastatingly harm the salmon population and the species that depend on it. The precautionary principle needs to be invoked to temporary ban the mine because of how the benefits of the mine do not outweigh the risks involved. This essay seeks to explore the benefits and risks associating with the mine to demonstrate why the mine should not be allowed to operate as of now.

Economic Impacts of the Pebble Mine

In its Initial Production Phase (IPP) alone, the mine will generate 14,450 jobs and the expected annual contribution from pebble mine will increase to over $1.1 billion. (IHS 2013) The estimated value at which the ore is worth is from $350 - 500 billion. By 2050, the global demand for copper is expected to increase by 2.75 times more than its value in 2010 if left purely to the market and is likely to be used up by 2038. (Elshkaki, Graedel, Ciacci, & Reck, 2016) At its highest, the recycling rate of copper is only at 17.5%. (ICSG, 2012) Since we are unable to efficiently recycle the copper in our products to meet the growing demand for copper, we need to mine for copper. As such, the economic benefit of obtaining the copper ore may be argued by the PLP for the mine to be approved. Despite the truth in this, we also need to consider the opportunity costs involved if the mine is constructed. Currently, the Bristol Bay salmon contributes to a yearly gross income of $179.83 million and creates 5,490 jobs. The construction of the mine could cause for this industry to collapse, heavily affecting the stakeholders who depend on the salmon for a livelihood, such as the private sport fishing lodges in the area. (Holley & Mitcham, 2016) In addition, the environmental damages such as loss of the marine-derived nutrients as well as the local cultural identity that these by these salmon contribute to cannot be easily quantified in economic values. As such the uncertainty to the true economic value may cause difficulty in arguing for the construction of the mine.

The Environmental Impacts of the Pebble Mine

When deciding whether to proceed with the building of the mine, one cannot ignore the importance of salmon in the Alaskan ecosystem. It is likely that the construction of the mine would have some environmental impact, though to what extent is debatable. During the process of mining, acid mine drainage can occur when the exposed sulfide ore is oxidized to sulfuric acid. With Pebble being one of the largest mine for copper and gold (Rosen, 2017), the large-scaled operation results in the difficulties in managing and enforcing operation procedures. As salmon is an important player in the ecosystem, being an essential prey to more than 138 animal species. (Pebble mine report) Thus, when acid mine drainage is leaked to the by either improper treatment or handling of the acid, the pH of the environment especially in the watershed can be lowered, affecting the salmon in many ways such as its reproductive cycle and the fish behavior. (Chambers et al., 2012)When the keystone species is affected, the entire ecosystem can go out of balance very easily, causing catastrophic damage that is irreversible.

As part of the permit process, the PLP must submit many applications, such as the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as well as a detailed mining plan that documents the construction, operation and other processes. As of now, the PLP has been relatively transparent about its actions. For example, during the Pebble Mine Dialogue, the PLP has shared a portable document format of the baseline studies, data that the public is usually unable to access. Anglo American has also remarked that they highly value the social license as well as the local’s opinions. (Holley & Mitcham, 2016) The transparency is highly valued by the public and reflects the efforts on the mining companies to do right by the environment.

However, these attempts may be viewed to be manipulative in nature as well. Although companies can operate without getting the social license, the concept of cooperate social responsibility is commonly used to raise the reputation of the company in the public’s eyes in addition to the fact that operating without a social license can be harder and costlier. (Holley & Mitcham, 2016) With the industry being unreliable in enforcing environmentally-friendly practices (Pebble Mine report), the uncertainty due to the unreliability of the mining industry would mean the high risks associated with environmental impacts would be likely. In addition, salmons are essential in ensuring that the nutrients from the sea are recycled into the Bristol Bay ecosystem. Salmon, being a migratory fish, allows for the oligotrophic lakes and rivers to obtain essential nutrient. (Stockner & Ashley, 2003)

Finally, because the surrounding area of the proposed site for the mine is an area with high seismic activity, (REYNOLDS, KIEKOW, LACKEY, & SKOGLUND, 2012) mining may trigger earthquakes that would threaten the lives of humans living in the area as well as damage the ecosystem. Mining for example, the Rudna mine, has shown to induce earthquakes. (Orlecka-Sikora, 2010) As such, given the uncertainty and unpredictability of earthquakes in the region, facilities that house the waste rocks and tailings must be guarded against seismic activity, albeit an impossible task since the earthquakes are expected to have large magnitudes. The environmental impact when this happened will be devastating due to the amount of acid mine drainage being leaked to the environment.

Cultural importance of Bristol Bay

Bristol bay is important to the indigenous tribes who disagree with the construction of the mine. (Holley & Mitcham, 2016) They have depended on salmon as a method of sustenance for thousands of years. (Rahr) The community of Newhalen heavily rely on salmon as a source of income, making up to 73% of their catch in 2004. (Fall, Holen, Davis, Krieg, & Koster, 2006) Even today, thousands continue with the salmon-based culture and tradition. As such, the risk of damaging the ecosystem by building the mine would further threaten the already frail salmon populations, affecting the lives of many. In comparing the cultural cost of building the mine, the benefits of the deposit do not outweigh the cultural importance.

Conclusion

In the building of the mine, precious metal can be obtained to support the global demand. However, this comes at a cost – environmentally, culturally and socially. In addition, the construction of the mine distracts us from the pursuit of a method of sustainable and renewable livelihood. Instead, it’ll further encourage the dangerous consumption patterns in which the future does not have enough resources in which to meet its demand. The uncertainties present as well serves to warn about the possibilities of the collapse of the ecosystem in which very much depend on salmon. With the threat of such large, irreversible environmental damage, the pebble mine is an experiment that the communities of Alaska cannot afford to gamble on. After evaluation, the precautionary principle should be invoked to prevent the mine from being constructed until current mining technology can advance to a point in which any environmental impacts can be easily manageable and reversible. It is advisable that there should be a greater emphasis on either finding an alternative to copper or new methods for greater efficiency of recycling copper.