Mediation expected for Kensington mine

JUNEAU, Alaska — Environmental activists and Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. have agreed to enter into mediation over a controversial waste disposal plan for the Kensington Mine.

The proposed mediation would be sponsored by the city of Juneau, which may provide a third-party mediator to help resolve the dispute, said Mayor Bruce Botelho. The proposed gold mine is located about 34 miles northwest of Juneau.

Previous negotiations between the company and environmentalists failed this summer. Coeur d’Alene Mines plans to dump mine tailings into a 20-acre freshwater lake, repopulating the lake with fish after the mine closes. Tailings are waste rock leftover after the minerals have been extracted.

The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, the Sierra Club and Haines-based Lynn Canal Conservation Council filed a federal lawsuit in September. Plaintiffs contend that the mine’s lake discharge permit approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violates the Clean Water Act.

“I have no illusion that this is going to be easy,” Botelho said. “This is going to require creativity. Hopefully, a third-party perspective may help move this along.”

The city of Juneau was prompted by the Southeast Conference, a regional organization of business and civic leaders, to intervene against the environmental groups’ lawsuit to block the dumping of Kensington Mine tailings.

The Murkowski administration and Coeur d’Alene Mines have intervened against the lawsuit, which was filed against the Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service.