State’s withdraws Jonesville Mine permit

SUTTON — The state Department of Natural Resources has withdrawn a renewal permit it had previously granted in May for the Jonesville Mine.

Acknowledging that the state failed to adequately respond to concerns about the legality of the permit, DNR Coal Program Manager Russ Kirkham said Wednesday state statute requires the permit holder, Australia-based Black Range Minerals, to file its intent to mine the property within three years of the original issuance of the permit.

“The Jonesville permit was first issued in 1996 and was transferred to several companies since then,” Kirkham said. “Those opposed to the renewal of the permit believe the statute requires mining activities to begin within three years of the permit, so we’re looking at that now. We’ll go through our historical records and reports and look at the data. We might end up stipulating that the mining company provide additional data to us, but I can’t say right now how much of an impact this will have on the permit or future operations at the mine.”

Black Range Minerals, through its Colorado-based subsidiary Ranger Alaska LLC, bought the rights to the 1,450-acre underground mine off Jonesville Mine Road in the heart of Sutton from Knoll Acres LLC in 2008, according to Black Range Minerals’ website.

Mat Valley Coalition and the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council issued statements this week praising DNR for listening to their concerns about the mine, which they say would harm critical salmon habitat and cause irreparable damage to the area’s air, water wells, property values and general quality of life.

CVTC and other anti-coal groups had filed an appeal against the May permit renewal by DNR, arguing that water pollution and reclamation failures near the site still persist, despite the mining operations being closed for more than four decades.

“State law requires DNR to respond to issues raised through the public comment process and that didn’t happen here,” said Lisa Wade, a Chickaloon Tribal citizen and Health and Social Services director.

Kirkham said that although DNR had gone over the public comments collected after meeting with Sutton-area residents in January, officials somehow overlooked one addressing regulations about the three-year deadline to begin activity once the original permit is issued.

“We need to treat both sides equally,” Kirkham said. “Both have rights and we need to protect them.”

Chickaloon Traditional Chief Gary Harrison said he was pleased with DNR’s willingness to take another look at the permit.

“It was irresponsible for DNR to issue this permit, and instead they should have required Ranger Alaska to submit a new application for coal mining at Jonesville,” Harrison said. “But we are happy the permit has been withdrawn and hope DNR will fully take our concerns into account in the future when considering coal developments in sensitive and traditional tribal areas.”

Chickaloon Traditional Council said it has spent millions in grant funds restoring salmon habitat in the area, including projects on Eska Creek, into which the Jonesville coal mine area drains. It argues restoring salmon runs attracts jobs and fishing opportunities to the area.

“The information in the current permit is just so terribly outdated,” said Shawna Larson, a Chickaloon Tribal citizen and co-director of Pacific Environment, one of the groups that filed the permit appeal with DNR.

Groups fighting the mines also say they feel DNR’s recent action on Jonesville will spark a second look at permit information submitted by the area’s other prospective mining company, Healy-based Usibelli Coal Mine Co. They said some of the data submitted by UCM for the Wishbone Hill mine properties off Buffalo Mine Road dates back to the 1980s and should therefore be declared invalid.

A Black Range Minerals representative could not be reached for comment this week.

Usibelli spokesperson Lorali Simon said she did not wish to comment on the issue this week because it doesn’t directly involve Usibelli. Simon was married recently and formerly was known by the last name Carter.

“It’s not our project,” Simon said.

Sutton residents in favor of coal mining for the jobs and economic boost it would provide the area said Thursday they don’t believe the permit snag at Jonesville will have any affect on future development of the mine.

“It appears to me it’s just a procedural thing and that DNR will look it over and move forward,” Sutton Community Council Secretary Claudia Dolfi said. “A lot of foreign countries out there need the minerals and we’ve got ’em. There are plenty of folks out here in Sutton who are all for the mine, so we hope this doesn’t cause Black Range too much of a problem.”

Dolfi pointed out that the pro-coal movement is gaining more and more momentum every day through the Mat-Su Business Alliance and a new website, matsuvalley.org, devoted to educating residents about local resource development.

Sutton historian Roberta Mason said she’s approaching the issue a little more cautiously than others in favor of coal mining.

“It’s important who does the work,” Mason said. “My husband and son worked on the slope for BP and they had to go against their companies because they were not taking care of Mother Earth. But opening the land up for exploration does not mean a certain company is going to automatically develop it. If it turns out that a company is not being good stewards, we can stop them before the mine opens. It’s way too early to shut it down, though. We need to see how they operate first. We need to have time to listen and watch the company before we decide we don’t want them here.”

Kirkham said he’s not sure how long the investigation into the Jonesville permit would last. He said it could be anywhere from one week to several weeks and that the state will release an update when it has one.

He said he imagines they will also look carefully at the Wishbone Hill permit to be sure Usibelli is in compliance. UCM is expected to announce its intentions for its 8,000 acres at the end of its final explorations this summer.

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.