By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Alaska Superior Court Judge Fred Torrisi on Oct. 17 ordered state officials to expedite printing of petition booklets for an Alaska Clean Water ballot initiative.

The petition booklets were delivered Oct. 22 to the initiative sponsors. They included Iliamna area sport fishing lodge owner John Holman, Nondalton tribal council president Jack Hobson and Ekwok tribal elder Luki Akelkok.

Torrisi's decision cleared the way for the petition booklets to be available in time for the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, which runs from Oct. 22 through Oct. 27 in Fairbanks.

Jason Hooley, a special assistant to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, said Oct. 23 that Parnell was still considering an appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court.

“The lieutenant governor has been in contact with the Department of Law and we are still reviewing whether or not that is a good idea,” he said. The state has 30 days from Oct. 23 to make its decision.

Backers of the Alaska Clean Water ballot initiative, which could determine the future of mining in Southwest Alaska, have until Jan. 15 to gather some 32,000 signatures to get the measure on the statewide ballot in the fall of 2008. If passed, the measure could essentially halt the Pebble mine prospect.

The initiative asks Alaska voters to decide on new restrictions on large-scale mineral mines to prevent the discharge of pollutants into water used for drinking or salmon habitat.

Torrisi handed down his initial ruling in Dillingham on Oct. 17, allowing for the ballot initiative process to begin. Late in the day Oct. 17, attorneys for the state lieutenant governor's office entered a plea with the court, saying the state could not meet the deadline imposed by the judge before Oct. 29, two days after the end of the AFN convention.

Proponents of the ballot initiative want to circulate the initiative petitions at the AFN convention, which attracts residents from all over Alaska. Alaska has 40 election districts, and all 40 districts must be represented by the signers of the petitions.

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham, said he feels residents of the Bristol Bay region will support the initiative.

“I think the main concern is preserving the fisheries-based lifestyle we have out here,” said Edgmon, the key sponsor of HB 134, an act related to conservation and protection of wild salmon production in drainages affecting the Bristol Bay fisheries.

Edgmon attended recent hearings on HB 134 in the Bristol Bay area.

The proposed Pebble project, to develop copper, gold and molybdenum resources in Southwest Alaska is seen by proponents as a potential major economic boost to the region, which has a fisheries-and -subsistence based economy. Northern Dynasty Minerals, a Canadian firm, has already invested millions of dollars in exploration, and with new partner Anglo American plans to invest millions more.

The partners said Oct. 4 that they are targeting completion of a pre-feasibility study in December 2008, a feasibility study by 2011 and commencement of commercial production by 2015.

“The ballot initiative as we understand it would affect any large-scale mine development, and would foreclose the opportunity for any large-scale mine development in the state of Alaska in the future,” said Sean McGee, a spokesman for Northern Dynasty. “The concerns about it are very widespread in the mining sector overall, communities and other businesses that rely on mining, as well as local government. If the initiative does go on the ballot, I think you will see people who support responsible resource development will play an active role in the debate.”

Opponents of the mine fear that developing the project at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed could result in potential pollution of the Bristol Bay fisheries, which are prized by commercial, sport and subsistence users.

“If mining can live up to a stricter set of regulations, that's fine; let the mine go forward,” said Art Hackney, an Anchorage advertising executive whose firm represents the Renewable Resources Coalition, a group opposed to the mine. “But the regulations have not kept pace with the scale of what mining is today. It's never been done before. There are not regulations to take this into consideration.”

Hackney also expressed concern that if the Pebble prospect goes forward eight other mining companies in the 1,000-square-mile area designated by the state for mining would also begin exploration.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.