SWAN Village-to-Village Messaging System: Red Devil's pike and salmon

Red Devil's pike and salmon

Posted by Margaret on 5/29/2009, 2:37 pm, in reply to "Mine's History"
65.74.12.161

Red Devil’s pike, salmon
The village of Red Devil has no grocery store. Residents said they often eat locally caught pike, salmon and other fish.

Mary Willis, who heads the tribal government, said she wants the site listed.
“… It is a concern, the contamination to the people and if it (the mine) leaks out over time,” she said.

Bob Vanderpool, owner of Vanderpool Flying Service in Red Devil, agrees. He said residents have been trying to get the site cleaned up for decades.

“There’s raw mercury all over the ground and people live all along the river,” he said.
Borell, with the Miners Association, said he doesn’t know anyone who supports the idea. Given the weakened state of the nation’s economy, there may be other solutions than spending several million dollars on a cleanup.

For example, local residents at Salt Chuck already know they shouldn’t eat clams gathered near the site.

“It’s been known for some time, so is it feasible to put up signs that say, ‘Don’t eat the clams’ ?” he said.

Officials with Calista Corp., which would benefit if the Donlin Creek mine is developed on Native land, acknowledge there’s contamination at the Red Devil site. But they don’t think a Superfund listing is the best approach until further study is done.

“The public is justified in their concern but we think there’s a right way to proceed,” said Jeff Foley, Calista’s senior geologist.

Calista owns Alaska Newspapers Inc., which publishes this newspaper.

A study by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1999 found that arsenic in Red Devil creek exceeded federal drinking water standards.

The same study found that the creek water contained levels of mercury that were dangerous to aquatic life, but a 1995 study by U.S. Geological Survey reported just the opposite.

Also, in 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey found that mercury levels in the Kuskowkim River near the creek didn’t exceed the state’s drinking water standards.

This is because the creek trickles into the broad Kuskokwim, and contamination is immediately diluted, Foley said.

The mercury levels reported in the federal study may show the river water is safe for drinking, but it’s high enough to threaten fish that live in the water, and perhaps the people that eat them, Palmieri said.

Foley said much of the mercury and other heavy metals in the area, and along the Kuskokwim, is naturally occurring. Before the mine is designated a Superfund, it’s important to know what’s natural and what’s not. Not knowing could lead to a larger cleanup than needed, possibly releasing more mercury and other contaminants, he said.

The Bureau of Land Management, which manages the federally owned land, recently received some money that could be used to begin answering that question, he said.

But waiting until such a study is done could delay the cleanup for years, and possibly forever, in part because BLM must receive the money one step at a time, Palmieri said.

Determining which mercury is natural and which isn’t would happen much faster if the site receives a Superfund listing, allowing the cleanup to proceed much more quickly, she said. A Superfund cleanup would also allow the state to partner with the BLM and EPA.

It wouldn’t cause more pollution, she said.

“When they look at remedial options for cleanup, one thing they look at is how to conduct the work and not do more environmental harm,” she said.

State laws also ensure that a cleanup can’t occur if it causes more environmental harm than the contamination itself, she said.

David Griso, head of the Kuskokwim Watershed Council based in Aniak, about 76 air miles from Red Devil, has voiced support for a listing.

It needs to be cleaned up as soon as possible, he said.

“These levels are really high and they’re happening right now,” he said.
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