EPA Wants Another Look at AK Gold Mine Waste Plan

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by Steve Brawn

Story Created: Jul 17, 2009 at 10:19 AM AKST

Story Updated: Oct 13, 2010 at 4:51 AM AKST

The Environmental Protection Agency wants the Army Corps of Engineers to take another look at how to dispose of tailings at Coeur Alaska Inc.'s Kensington Gold mine north of Juneau.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court gave Idaho-based Coeur the go-ahead to dump waste from the mine into nearby Slate Lake. But regional EPA official Michael Gearheard sent a letter to the corps this week asking it to look at an alternative method to handle the tailings. The EPA estimates the re-evaluation will take eight months.

Construction at the mine has been on hold since 2006. Coeur
spokesman Tony Ebersole tells the Juneau Empire that the EPA letter is "really unbelievable." He says it has taken nine years to get the permit to dispose of tailings in the lake, and that federal and state agencies all supported it.

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