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

The Skagway Borough Assembly unanimously rejected two proposals from Harold Jahn’s Prosperity Investments Alaska to decommission the municipality’s ore loader and dredge its harbor near the municipality’s ore terminal.

The proposals drew attention from the Chilkat Valley when Jahn indicated that Haines might be a potential destination for the equipment.

Skagway assembly members and Mayor Andrew Cremata expressed skepticism about the timeline of Jahn’s proposals, which included the removal of Skagway’s ore loader by mid-April.

“Our intent is to dismantle it and disassemble it and remove it prior to April 20,” Jahn said of his proposal to remove the ore loader for $1. “We have the capability to do that. When the first cruise ships come in on April 28, it’ll be gone.”

Vice Mayor Orion Hanson said the community’s $65 million Ore Peninsula Development Project could be delayed should Jahn not follow through with his proposal.

“I don’t know about getting permits, but it takes a long time for contractors to get permits for doing these kinds of things,” he said. “Maybe it’s faster in Canada but I’m pretty doubtful this could be done in April.”

Jahn owns the Edmonton-based Prosperity Investments and has a murky track record of unfinished projects. He incorporated Prosperity Investments Alaska three weeks ago. His business records include a California District Court judgment against him for more than $450,000 over a breach of contract and a number of unfinished or disputed projects in the U.S. and Canada.

Jahn made a splash in Haines last week because his Skagway proposal indicated interest in the development of an ore terminal on private property in “an undisclosed Alaska location.” Jahn told the CVN last week he is exploring two different sites on private property in Haines for the development and in his proposal said Skagway’s ore-loading equipment could have a “second life by being used at this undisclosed Alaska location.”

But Jahn told the Skagway assembly that use of the ore loading equipment in Haines was the result of “a lot of rumors spreading around” and that the equipment “would be likely going to Bellingham, Washington.”

He also told the assembly he had a meeting scheduled with the governor’s office and the state Department of Natural Resource the following day to “fast track” the permitting process. A representative of the governor’s office told the CVN that no such meeting was scheduled, but DNR spokesperson said Jahn met with the agency’s Division of Mining, Land and Water staff March 3 to discuss lease and easement application requirements for constructing new dock facilities, establishing a new location for mineral and ore concentrate transportation and tideland leases in Haines.

The Skagway assembly also voted to approve a 35-year export cooperation agreement with the Yukon government. In exchange for three to four waterfront acres, and two acres elsewhere, to store ore concentrates and other potential goods, the Yukon will construct a $17.8 million marine services platform. The platform, a concrete dock for industrial use, is part of the municipality’s $65 million Ore Peninsula Development Project. The platform will be designed with specifications from the Yukon government for ore export and can service barges, according to the project’s 60% design plans. The project also includes a larger cruise ship dock and a new roll-on/roll-off industrial ramp. Construction is scheduled to begin in October.

The vote comes as some in Haines worry the reconstruction of the Lutak Dock will serve as an ore terminal that Yukon mines would use when Skagway decommissions its ore loader. According to the agreement, Skagway will own and operate the platform as well as provide preferential access and a fee discount for designated export users appropriated by Yukon officials.

“(Yukon Government) will designate certain mining companies that are in good standing with (Skagway) that will benefit from the preferential access and fee discounts under the Export Cooperation Agreement,” the agreement states.

Cremata, in supporting the agreement, said while Skagway residents have been left with legacy contamination related to ore transfer and infrastructure that’s in poor condition, “those are mistakes of the past.” He said forming good relationships with the Yukon government will help ensure new infrastructure will be taken care of and that the environmental regulations Skagway has put in place will be followed.

“I appreciate this level of discourse because I think it’s foolish to try and say we can stop industry. It’s foolish to say we should stop it, but we can make it as clean as possible. We can make it as responsible as possible and I see this as a first step in doing that,” Cremata said. “We need ore to come through here. We use it every day. It would be hypocritical to say otherwise.”

The Skagway assembly will soon consider an ordinance that will require bulk ore shipment to be containerized. The ordinance also requires a bulk ore loading system and will create a fund with monies generated from user fees that will be available for remediation associated with potential environmental impacts.