Another look: Federal regulators to inspect Wishbone Hill mining permits

WASILLA — On Jan. 18, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ordered a federal inspection of the Wishbone Hill mining permits, citing conduct on the part of Alaska Department of Natural Resources that it called “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion.”

The decision revolves around actions taken by DNR regarding a long-standing dispute: whether Healy-based Usibelli Coal Mine can operate Wishbone Hill under a transferred mining permit when the land was not developed as a mine within a sufficient time period after the permit was authorized as required by law.

In the concluding statement, OSMRE division chief Jeffrey Fleischman wrote, “OSMRE has determined that DNR has neither taken appropriate action nor demonstrated good cause for failure to do so regarding the allegation that the Wishbone Hill Mine permits (01-89-796 and 02-89-796) have terminated by operation of law pursuant to AS 27.21.070(b). OSMRE, therefore, orders that a federal inspection be conducted on those permits.”

Local groups that have opposed the mine celebrated the decision.

Chickaloon Village Traditional Council sent out a press release lauding the decision, noting that the location for the coal mine impacts traditional sacred lands.

“The inspection is the first step in ordering operator Usibelli Coal Mine to shut down unless and it until it replaces the mine’s 25-year-old permit, long since expired under federal law,” the village council’s release stated.

“A new permitting process will give Chickaloon a voice on a project that could drastically change the Tribe’s way of life.”

Palmer resident Amy O’Conner, in a release from The Alaska Center, said, “I moved to the Valley so I could raise my children in a spectacular community and place, with clean mountain air and water.”

The center’s release noted changes in population in the Mat-Su Valley since it says Usibelli got its first permit, back in 1991.

Usibelli spokeswoman Lorali Simon said that OSMRE had previously agreed that the Wishbone permits were valid, but urged the Department of Natural Resources to do a better job of record-keeping, referring to its Nov. 4, 2014, decision.

She called the new decision a “shift” for the federal regulatory body, and speculated another “shift” at the federal level – President Donald Trump’s recent inauguration – could affect future developments.

“The letter was sent from OSM two days prior to the shift in administration,” Simon said. “Perhaps under the new Trump administration, OSM may take a different direction. We don’t know if they will. But most of these types of anti-coal mining maneuvers have come from an administration that has been very focused on stopping coal mining across the country.”

Simon said it’s anyone’s guess as to what shape the ordered inspection will take.

“We don’t know what the federal inspection will entail,” she said. “It could be people digging through file boxes, and perhaps taking a trip to the mine site, which is undeveloped property. We expect that through their inspection of existing documents, they’ll find their own inspection reports documenting the valid permit.”