Funding mental health services with coal harms the Mat-Su

It’s time for the Alaska Mental Health Trust to finally divest from coal.

Last month, the Executive Director of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office, John Morrison, determined it is within the best interest of the Trust’s beneficiaries to grant a lease of 95 acres to Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. The lease would last 25 years. Despite a downturn in the global coal market, Usibelli maintains aspirations to process, store, and transport coal from Wishbone Hill. This areais near the community of Sutton and on traditional territory of the Chickaloon Native Village. In the unlikely event the coal market rebounds, the land leased to Usibelli by the Mental Health Trust would be used to access the coal fields.

We, who live near this proposed mine, remain adamantly opposed to coal development. We want development that is community-led, benefits the physical and mental health of our families, provides safe and sustainable jobs, and keeps our ecosystem intact. Coal mining — and every level of coal production — is incompatible with this vision. It is also contradictory to the Trust’s mission, which is to improve the mental health of Alaskans.

The Trust funds mental health services by generating revenue from the land they own. They fund commendable programs, such as Housing First, which recognizes that adequate housing is essential to improving quality of life. However, it is apparent that the Trust fails to examine how their land use influences the overall mental and physical health of Alaska’s communities.

While it is well established that air pollution caused by coal-fired power plants is linked to respiratory diseases, research also suggests exposure to heavy metals found in coal, including lead, may influence our mental health, too. Lead is capable of penetrating the blood brain barrier, a special filter around the brain that usually keeps out most dangerous substances. Even low levels of lead accumulation in the blood increases the risk for disorders of the brain and spinal cord. Within the last 5 years, studies have shown lead burden in the body to be correlated with ADHD, behavioral problems, reduced executive functioning, reduced IQ, and learning difficulties. Since the 1970s, the US has regulated human lead exposure in many areas, but lead from coal storage remains outside of federal control.A recent study conducted by the University of Louisville’s School of Public Health highlights the sense of powerlessness felt by parents living near coal ash storage sites in Kentucky. Parents felt that the health of their children was negatively impacted, but that there was nothing they could do to protect their children from the pollution. Is this the state of health the Alaska Mental Health Trust wants for Alaskans?

Matanuska Valley residents living near the proposed coal mines suffer from a state of uncertainty about the future of our communities. Since 2007, when coal extraction near our homes seemed a certainty, hundreds of Valley residents raised health and environmental concerns through the official process. Some families even moved away in response to the threat. But the State of Alaska overwhelmingly ignored both our concerns and the reality of how coal extraction has devastated other regions. It is clear that the State of Alaska’s permitting process only serves to approve resource extraction – not to consider the total impact of a project on the community’s health the environment, or the people’s will. Unfortunately, the Mental Health Trust relies on this faulty permitting process to justify their investment in coal.

From an economic standpoint, coal is simply a bad investment. In a 2013 KSKA interview, Jeff Jessee, the Trust’s CEO, stated that coal development has not added a great deal to the Trust’s revenues. This is not expected to change. With increasing recognition that burning coal contributes to climate change, coal prices are at their lowest levels in a decade. The demand for coal is weak, and large players in the industry are going bankrupt. Why does the Mental Health Trust continue to invest in a failing industry that it is harmful to our planet, community, economy, and health?

Sutton’s new Life House Community Health Center, the new Public Library, and the sustainable employment opportunities currently being developed by the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council are the kinds of projects that reflect our values, strengthen our community, and brighten our children’s future. The threat of coal extraction only harms us. It’s time for the Mental Health Trust to do the right thing and deny the lease to Usibelli.

Persons who believe the lease renewal to Usibelli Coal Mine is not in the best interest of the Trust’s beneficiaries or is contradictory to the Trust’s principles should provide written comment before 4:30 p.m. on January 19 to the Trust Land Office at 2600 Cordova Street, Suite 100, Anchorage, AK 99503, or by fax (907) 269-8905, or e-mail mhtlo@alaska.gov.

Laurel Carlsen is a mother, nursing student, and cancer survivor who lives in Palmer.