How coal can affect the Valley

Like most couples who have lived and owned a business in the Mat-Su for the last 25 years, my husband and I have witnessed our community grow and change.

New industries arrived and thrived, new roads were built and more and more families began to call the Valley home. Today, our community is one of the most economically viable and healthy places in Alaska. There are good jobs and our homes retain good value. We are all proud to call the Mat-Su our home.

But a project being proposed by the Usibelli Coal Mine threatens to destroy so much of what is fundamentally special about the Mat-Su. I’m referring to the controversial Wishbone Hill Coal Mine, which would be located right in the middle of our communities.

My husband was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1996. He grew up in a mining family from West Virginia. We have lost three family members to coal-dust-related illnesses, and I feel we have some good insight in to what will happen here if Wishbone Hill becomes a reality. There are irrefutable scientific studies that connect coal dust with severe and fatal health problems such as those experienced by our family.

We are only one of the many families and businesses that will be directly affected by this project, but Mat-Su residents must understand how this will affect all of us. For example, an obvious negative impact of this mine will be to undercut property values. The closer one is to the mine, the more severe this impact, and anyone downstream or downwind can expect to lose hard-earned economic value. And remember, low property values are contagious.

Because of these concerns and my role as vice president of our local community council, I felt it was important to spend the time and money to go to Juneau to talk with elected officials about the health and financial impacts of the Wishbone Hill coal project. The trip to the capitol was interesting and educational — but above all — it was alarming. Never having met our newly elected Rep. Eric Feige, I was shocked and dismayed at his lack of knowledge about the adverse affects the mining would bring. I’m sure he’s not the only one.

Rep. Feige made it clear he had bought into Usibelli Coal Mine’s arguments and supports the mine because of the handful of “new jobs” it will create. I told him that according to the Mat-Su Borough, all 2010 assessed property values within two miles of the proposed mine sites total more than $80 million in net worth. History shows property values around mines and similar industry can drop anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent. As badly as they want to, Usibelli Coal Mine simply cannot make the economic case for this project. The fact is this project will cause economic and financial harm to most of us, and would potentially only benefit a very select-few.

Alaska is blessed with many resources, including oil, gas and renewable forms of energy. But above all, Alaska’s best resource remains its people. Mat-Su residents are some of the hardest working and brightest people in the world. We stand up for each other, value family and take care of our neighbors. It’s time that we pulled together to protect our interests and say no to the Wishbone Hill Coal Mine project.

Mat-Su residents cannot afford this project.

Bonnie Zirkle is vice president of the Moose Creek-Soapstone Community Council and is a small business owner. She is a member of the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce and has served as an assistant hunting guide in the Valley for the past 24 years. She lives in Palmer with her husband Dale.