TRUCK FIRE – Firefighters knock down a fire in a Ford Explorer truck in Arrowhead Trailer Park in the 1200 block of Sawmill Creek Road Saturday evening. One person received fire-related injuries and was taken to the hospital, Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren said, and the truck was considered a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Warren said. The fire hall received the call about the fire at 5:33 p.m., and one fire engine with eight firefighters and an ambulance were dispatched, he said. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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Sitka Joins Push To Protect Rivers

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

The Assembly unanimously passed a resolution Thursday aimed at protecting salmon rivers and communities in Southeast Alaska from mining pollution originating in Canada.

The resolution calls for a permanent ban on tailings dams and a temporary halt to the permitting, exploration, development and expansion of Canada mines along Alaska-British Columbia transboundary salmon rivers.

The resolution noted the need for protecting three Southeast rivers in particular – Taku, Stikine, Unuk – that are important for “cultural, subsistence, economic and recreational value ...”

The resolution was co-sponsored by Kevin Knox and Rebecca Himschoot. 

The item drew many comments in support, including from the commercial fishing, subsistence, Indigenous and conservation communities.

By the vote in favor, Sitka joins communities, tribal governments and organizations around Southeast in advocating for the temporary halt “until the U.S.-Canada boundary waters treaty of 1909 and the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples are upheld and an international agreement on watershed protections is implemented.”

In other business at the meeting – a continuation of Tuesday night’s regular meeting – the Assembly discussed a project to install a memorial bench at Harrigan Centennial Hall (see story), and approved sales tax holidays on Nov. 26 and 27. 

Transboundary Resolution

The vote was 6-0 on the resolution, one of four items left on the table after Tuesday’s meeting ran past the 10:30 p.m. cutoff time. 

Voting in favor were Knox, Himschoot, Thor Christianson, Valorie Nelson, Crystal Duncan and Kevin Mosher. (Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz was returning home from Southeast Conference, and arrived to the meeting after that agenda item.)

Speakers called attention to a number of issues including risks presented by the practice of storing mining waste behind earthen dams along the Alaska-B.C. salmon rivers. They pointed to the 2014 failure of the Mount Polley mine dam as an example.

Frederick Olsen Jr., executive director of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission, told the Assembly concerns are growing among the 15 federally recognized tribes in Southeast about large-scale industrial mining projects across the border in British Columbia. His group was formed in response to these concerns.

He called attention to the proposed Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell gold mine in Canada, which could affect the Unuk River watershed, near Ketchikan. Olsen said today that the plans for the mine include two earthen tailings dams, each higher than the Space Needle.

Linda Behnken, executive director of Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, encouraged the Assembly to pass the resolution. She said Canada is moving forward with mine expansion and exploration “despite internal and international pressure.”

“This resolution calls for a temporary pause in B.C. mine exploration, expansion and permitting in the transboundary watersheds until international agreements are in place to protect salmon, Indigenous rights and downstream communities,” and permanent ban on mine waste or tailings dams, she said. “Tailings dams have been banned as too risky and far from best industry practices in numerous countries. It’s time for Canada to do the same.”

Mim McConnell, former Sitka mayor, said she tried to advocate on this issue when she served as mayor. 

“Now, five years after leaving office, the situation has become worse and more urgent,” she said. “The downriver communities are still not protected despite seven years of calling for international solutions to an international problem. It appears that B.C. is not listening.”

She noted the ban on such dams in Peru, Chile and Brazil, because they are recognized as “risky methods of storing mine waste.”

In the resolved section of the resolution the Assembly “calls upon President Joe Biden and the United States government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian government to:”

– use their authority under the U.S.-Canada Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to prevent and resolve disputes over the use of shared waters.

– support an immediate temporary halt to permitting, exploration, development, and expansion of Canadian mines along shared Alaska-B.C. salmon rivers until a binding International agreement on watershed protections is implemented “consistent with the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”

– convene with communities, stakeholders and Indigenous leaders of the Taku, Stikine, and Unuk watersheds to develop a binding international agreement on watershed protections, including “no-go zones,” enforcing requirements and ensuring those responsible for damages are held accountable for damages.

Also testifying on the issue were fishermen and members of the conservation community, who called attention to the wild salmon stocks that rely on the river systems.

Sitka fisherman Eric Jordan noted that king salmon stocks that escape into the rivers have become stocks of concerns due to declining abundance.

“But the importance of this resolution is for future generations of fishermen and peoples of Southeast Alaska,” he said. “Because of the long lifecycle of king salmon it is unlikely that these stocks will be rebuilt in order for us to continue fishing on them during the rest of my fishing career since I am 72 years old and it’s likely to take a decade or more to rebuild these runs to allow us, for example, to fish from March 15 to April 30 inside of our winter lines from Edgecumbe to Biorka.”

The Sitka Conservation Society sent a letter to the Assembly, raising concerns about the number of mine tailings dams at the headwaters of the river systems that are “home to several indigenous nations, linking 80,000 people in many communities” in the U.S. and Canada.

“These rivers are hotspots of biodiversity, climate refugia, habitat for all five species of Pacific salmon and serve as economic powerhouses that contribute $48 million annually to Southeast Alaska’s economy,” the SCS letter said. “Of particular concern presently is the number of mine tailings dams at the headwaters of these systems that already exist or are proposed for development as part of these many mineral extraction projects that are rapidly multiplying across the region. The history of failures of these types of dams and the impacts to the downstream communities are widely known and have had horrific impacts in the Pacific Northwest already.”

Valorie Nelson suggested forwarding a copy to the Alaska Legislature to help on the issue, and others agreed.

Sales Tax Holiday

The Assembly voted 6-0 to have sales tax holidays on Nov. 26 and 27. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz, who has a downtown store, recused himself for conflict of interest reasons. 

The fiscal note in the Assembly packet says the holidays are estimated to cost $60,000 in lost sales tax revenues, although finance director Melissa Haley said it’s not known yet  what the impact will be from lost sales tax on internet purchases, which are now subject to Sitka sales tax.

Haley said she didn’t know how well the remote sellers would be able to participate, but that she’s required to inform the Remote Sellers Sales Tax Commission about Sitka’s sales tax “holidays.” Asked whether Sitka could confine the holidays to local stores, Haley said the city can’t discriminate against remote sellers.

The purpose of the sales tax holidays has historically been to promote local shopping. 

In other business, the Assembly turned down a request to waive a $100 late sales tax filing fee.

 

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Businesses using the Centennial Hall parking lot testified Tuesday against a proposal to charge them rent in addition to the $200 annual permit fee. City Administrator Hugh Bevan made the proposal in response to the Assembly’s direction to Centennial Hall manager Don Kluting to try to close the $340,000 gap between building revenues and operational costs.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand President William S. Paul Sr. will be special guest and speaker at the local ANB, Alaska Native Sisterhood Founders Day program Monday at the ANB Hall.

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