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From Northern.org Mining Memos Juneau, AK—This afternoon the Ninth Circuit Court re-affirmed the injunction halting the Kensington Gold Mine’s damaging dam construction activities at Lower Slate Lake pending a decision on the appeal. Coeur Alaska asked the court to cancel the injunction. In response, the court concluded, “SEACC has shown a likelihood of success on the merits because it has argued persuasively that the Corps’ permit to Coeur Alaska violates the Clean Water Act,” and that voiding the injunction before a final decision would result in irreparable harm to the environment. “This order sends a strong signal that the Ninth Circuit will agree the Clean Water Act prohibits anyone from dumping 4.6 million tons of mine tailings into our lakes and streams,” said Russell Heath Executive Director of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC). “Kensington can store its waste in more responsible ways, as mines in Alaska and other parts of the country do.” If allowed to proceed as planned, the Kensington Mine would be the first mine in a generation to dispose of its chemically-treated mine tailings in a lake or stream. This decision protects Lower Slate Lake while the Court examines the legality of the Kensington Mine’s plan to use the lake as a tailings dump. “Coeur has a choice. The Kensington Mine was previously fully permitted for a plan that didn’t dump tailings in a lake. There are other options besides the current plan that would provide for jobs and would protect our clean water,” says Heath. The Ninth Circuit Court has not made a final decision on the Kensington case. That could happen anywhere from the next few weeks to a few months. © Copyright 2002 - 2003 by Northern.org |