Usibelli Coal Mine Permits Invalid, Alaska Activists Claim In Wishbone Hill Lawsuit

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A lawsuit filed in federal court says an Alaska coal mining company is preparing to dig at a Matanuska-Susitna prospect without valid permits.

The lawsuit filed by five nonprofit groups Tuesday claims Healy-based Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. is moving forward with strip mine operations at the Wishbone Hill Mine near Sutton with permits that should have been terminated because mining did not begin in a timely fashion, as the permits require.

"If Usibelli Coal Co. wishes to be a responsible company and good neighbor, they must follow the rules, including the most basic — obtaining a valid permit to operate," Jeremiah Millen, director of Friends of Mat-Su, said in an announcement of the lawsuit filed in Anchorage.

Mine spokeswoman Lorali Simon said the lawsuit didn't come as a shock.

"Usibelli maintains our position, as does the state of Alaska, that we are operating under valid permits," she said. "Using the court system is the environmentalists' favorite tool in the toolbox, so it is not surprising that they are trying to sue over this project, as well."

The dispute pits a longtime Alaska mining company against neighbors living in a historic mining district who claim the industry will harm their home values, water quality and health.

Sutton-Alpine stretches between Miles 52 and 72 of the Glenn Highway, starting about 11 miles northeast of Palmer. The population is just under 1,500, according to a state database.

The lawsuit acknowledges that Sutton once boomed as a mining town and coal was the principal economic activity until 1968, when mining ended. However, it also says Alaska Natives used the area for subsistence activities well before that, and the current economy is driven by tourism and small businesses.

The groups claim the state issued five-year mining permits to another company, Idimitsu Alaska, in 1991, and approved transfer of the permits to North Pacific Mining Corp. four years later. Neither company started mining as required by the permits, according to the lawsuit, and the permits should have been terminated.

The permits were transferred to Usibelli in 1997, but mining activity did not begin until June 2010, according to the lawsuit.

The state Department of Natural Resources "is still reviewing the renewal application for the Wishbone Hill Mine. The Department is working to get a decision on the renewal application as soon as possible," Russell Kirkham, the coal program manager for the Alaska Division of Mining, Land & Water, said in an email to The Associated Press.

Friends of Mat-Su took issue with the permits in September. The group asked the state Department of Natural Resources to order a halt to Usibelli operations, but that has not happened, according to the lawsuit. A similar request was made to the federal Office of Surface Mining.

"We don't want to wait for another construction season to roll around and for Usibelli to continue business as usual with what we believe is an invalid permit," Kirby Spangler, president of Castle Mountain Coalition, said Wednesday from his home about a mile from the mine site.

The groups are seeking an injunction to stop mining and related activity such as road-building.

The other plaintiffs are Cook Inletkeeper, Alaska Community Action on Toxics and the Alaska chapter of the Sierra Club.

A state hearing on the mine in September at Palmer drew proponents and critics. Usibelli has said Wishbone Hill would bring 75 to 125 high-paying jobs to the area.

Critics said a mine operating less than a mile from homes would present environmental and health concerns, such as coal dust.

Also on HuffPost:

From our partners

• How Two Determined Sisters Set Up A Pet Rescue Pipeline To Colorado - Mother Nature Network
• Panel Finds Flaws In Hurricane Sandy Warning System - Climate Central
• 11 Images And Facts About A Misunderstood Creature - Mother Nature Network

Comments

[yukonsam]

03:55 PM on 05/03/2012

About half of Usibelli coal is used in Alaskan power plants (where it contributes to Fairbanks' notorious ice fog -- frozen smog). Wishbone Hill and larger projects are targeted at the export market to destinations in South Korea, Chile and other Pacific Rim customers.

Usibelli wants to increase exports from 1 million tons per year to 12 million tons, shipping out of Port MacKenzie via a new spur on the railroad.

I doubt the litigation will be anything but a minor speed bump. Getting the State of Alaska to enforce its own regulations against any of the resource-extraction industries is like pulling teeth. Too many people are there to rip and run, too few who care about what's left twenty or fifty or a hundred years down the road.

[BillEBuoy]

12:35 PM on 05/23/2012

Usibelli's coal DOES NOT contribute to Fairbanks' ice fog! In fact, it helps relieve it. The downtown powerplant's stack sticks way above the ice fog height emitting its condensation well above the city's problem. Also, if not for the plant, almost 200 homes would have stacks of their own, emitting their own ice fog inducing crud that has no carbon-capturing bag house like the power plant's stack does. Some of the homeowners not using the power plant's heat system burn wood, emitting nasty particulates into the air, which makes Fairbanks' ice fog much worse to breath.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK. You are so wrong in your accusations.

[yukonsam]

01:34 PM on 05/23/2012

Oh, I've done my homework. I breathed that junk for years, and found out exactly where it came from. I stand by my statement 100% -- facilities burning Usibelli coal have clearly and unambiguously contributed to ice fog for decades.

[grappler1987]

12:20 PM on 05/03/2012

"The lawsuit filed by five nonprofit groups Tuesday claims Healy-based Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. is moving forward with strip mine operations at the Wishbone Hill Mine near Sutton with permits that should have been terminated because mining did not begin in a timely fashion, as the permits require."

Timely fashion? Permitting needs to be changed to allow for simple extensions. Permitting and the lawsuits seem like a nightmare.