Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Last month, the Constantine-DOWA partnership submitted a permit application for the Palmer Project’s newly designed waste management system. The last application they submitted for this permit proposed a system that would have violated the Clean Water Act by functionally discharging wastewater — exceeding state water quality standards — into Chilkat River tributaries, including Glacier Creek.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) rubber stamped that 2019 permit, despite the public submitting evidence of this violation. ADEC let Constantine-DOWA create their own arbitrary “trigger limits” for pollutants, instead of applying state water quality standards. We and our partners successfully challenged the illegal permit, and ADEC remanded it for review. That was in 2019. ADEC still hasn’t addressed the remand.

This time, ADEC is denying the public our right to review and comment on the waste management permit altogether, claiming the 2019 public process is somehow sufficient. The 2019 process evaluated a completely different system, in a different location. This is an entirely new plan. Just about the only things the old and new plans have in common are bogus permit applications.

Public process serves everyone, when it is implemented. Alaskans have a right to participate in the decision-making process for an action that will alter this valley forever. The public should have the opportunity to evaluate the plan and raise legitimate concerns. Proponents should be able to register support. With that, ADEC can re-build trust among Alaskans.

ADEC must honor the Alaskan public’s right to participate in the decision-making process on the Palmer Project.

Sincerely,

Shannon Donahue, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council