The Chilkat Watershed is facing irreversible threats as the Constantine-DOWA Partnership works to develop a dangerous underground mine at its headwaters in the Glacier Creek Valley just upstream of the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan, the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, and the community of Haines.
These two foreign corporations are hurtling toward a point of no return that is likely to unleash acid mine waste — a chemical reaction that produces a substance similar to battery acid — and heavy metals into the pristine waters of the Chilkat River system for perpetuity. And the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is denying the public our voice in the decision-making process.
SEACC and our partners are doing everything we can to protect the Chilkat Watershed—possibly the most biologically diverse watershed in Alaska, and the place I call home—from the proposed Palmer Mine, but we could really use your help. And we’ve made it really, really easy for you to help out with this one-click action.
Click here to demand a public process for the Palmer Project’s wastewater permit.
Whether Alaska is your home, somewhere you’ve enjoyed visiting, or you simply recognize this place’s intrinsic value, your voice matters, and using it can help us to protect this unique watershed that supports the world’s largest seasonal bald eagle population, some of Southeast Alaska’s strongest wild salmon runs, and communities that thrive on the Chilkat Waterhsed’s pristine waters and abundant life.
This online action generates an email to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation requesting a public comment period on the proposed Palmer Mine’s wastewater discharge permit, which would allow them, in effect, to inject their dirty wastewater into the clean, healthy tributaries of the Chilkat River, without even meeting state water quality standards. Perhaps even more importantly, this email will also go to the regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pressuring the EPA to ensure that the Clean Water Act is being properly administered in the Chilkat Watershed.
You can learn more about the incredible Chilkat Watershed and the proposed Palmer Mine, and find our full suite of easy digital actions here at our Chilkat Action Page. Be sure to check out our new No Palmer Mine clothing line!
Thank you for standing up for clean water, public process, and the place I am so fortunate to call home.
Sincerely,
Shannon Donahue
Upper Lynn Canal Organizer
