Assembly to consider HIA resolution Tuesday

To the editor:

The three proposed coal strip mines throughout the Matanuska Valley will not only be unprecedented in their size and immediate proximity to hundreds of homes, but will also set a precedent for how we handle the process of inviting industry into our community.

Wishbone Hill is only one of three coal mining prospects in the Matanuska Valley, and while not as large as the 10,000 acres in Chickaloon recently leased to an Australian coal company, it is the closest to actual development. Accompanying the permitting process for Wishbone Hill coal mine is a Health Impact Assessment done by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

An HIA is an internationally recognized research and planning tool “by which a policy, program, or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population,” according to the World Health Organization. Essentially, an HIA is a cost benefit analysis of a project that focuses on human health and is — or should be — a key factor in responsible development.

Depending on the scope, HIAs may include varying amounts of research. The draft document for Wishbone Hill is a rapid appraisal HIA designed to compile existing information and identify data gaps. This HIA methodically considers potential health effects, both positive and negative, in eight standard categories. In seven of the eight categories, the risk of significant negative health effects was rated medium or high. Potential problems include water contamination, air pollution, noise pollution, mental health disturbance and traffic accidents involving the nearly 100 semi-trucks each day along major commuting routes. Data gaps identified reveal a substantial lack of crucial information about subsistence foods, potential surface water and groundwater contamination, noise, diesel exhaust, blowing coal dust and damage to houses from twice-daily blasting.

In other words, we have enough information to suggest that an open pit strip mine at Wishbone Hill is likely to cause some serious health problems, but we don’t have enough information to accurately gauge the risk. Those in charge of permitting the mine certainly lack the information they need to establish mitigation measures in the mining plan that would adequately protect public health. Not only is the Wishbone Hill HIA incomplete, there is no plan for any type of health assessment for the much larger Chickaloon coal lease or any other potential coal development that could turn the Matanuska Valley into the Appalachia of the North.

This is not just an academic question to me. I grew up in the Valley and I still spend many weekends out here skiing, hiking, fishing, hunting and raiding my friends’ excellent vegetable gardens. My family and friends live in the shadow of the proposed coal mines. Many of them have spent decades here and are now raising their own children to appreciate the mountains, rivers, salmon, berries, moose, giant cabbages and all of the natural bounty of the area. Nurturing and protecting a growing child is stressful enough without added uncertainty of wondering if coal dust and diesel exhaust will stunt their lungs or if their well water will be poisoned by mine slurry.

Our elected representatives on Mat-Su Borough Assembly considered this issue in June when they voted down a resolution that would have requested a comprehensive HIA for a coal mine at Wishbone Hill. The response to that vote from local residents — including doctors — who had showed up to testify for the HIA was shock and outrage.

The assembly will consider a similar resolution this Tuesday, Sept. 18, but this resolution will ask for a comprehensive HIA for all three of the coal mines slated for the Valley. As in June, our message to the assembly is clear: we see a vote against this resolution as a vote against public health. We all have a right to know the health risks posed by coal mining — before the blasting starts — so that we can make informed decisions about where we live, work, play and build our community.

Heidi Zimmer

Anchorage