second coal mine near sutton worries some resi

http://www.adn.com/2010/10/12/1498588/second-coal-mine-near-sutton-worries.html

SUTTON -- A second potential coal mine in Sutton has some local residents concerned about what their neighborhood might become.

The state is taking public comment through Tuesday on whether to renew a mining exploratory permit held by Colorado-based Ranger Alaska, a subsidiary of Black Range Minerals of Australia.

Ranger holds rights to the old 1,450-acre Jonesville Mine site, which is adjacent to the 8,000-acre lease renewed this year by Usibelli Coal Mine at Wishbone Hill.

"If Ranger Alaska gets their permit along with Usibelli, the Valley is going to be in for devastating conditions," Sutton resident Bonnie Zirkle said Tuesday. "Traffic, air pollution and, worst of all, water pollution."

The Mat-Su Borough has been working for the past few years to expand the rail and port at Point MacKenzie to give companies wanting to develop the area's resources incentives to do so. Groups opposed to allowing coal mining in scenic areas such as Sutton and Chickaloon have lobbied borough leaders to block such efforts, but because the land belongs to the state, the borough's input is limited.

The Ranger deposit lies about two miles north of Mile 61 Glenn Highway. A coal mine operated there for nearly 50 years before closing in 1968.

Russ Kirkham, state coal regulatory program manager, met with about 30 Sutton and Chickaloon residents Monday night at the entrance of the claim near Slipper Lake.

He arranged the meeting Friday after concerned residents requested a presentation on the Jonesville Underground Mine while the public comments on renewing Ranger's exploratory permit for the next five years are still allowed.

During the meeting, pungent fumes from naturally burning waste coal beneath the ground wafted through the group standing atop gravel mounds. The mounds were covering coal tailings from previous mining operations there.

Residents expressed worry about local water wells down the hill from the site.

"We have good water -- the best water in the world -- and we don't want to see it contaminated," nearby resident Kari Shaginoff told Kirkham. "I want you to take all these concerns back with you and to the mining company."

Others voiced concerns about how the water coming out of the mine would be handled once it hit a containment pond about 100 yards from the mine's entrance.

Kirkham told residents there would be a leach system, which means the pond would not be lined to prevent the water from seeping into the ground.

Calls to Ranger Alaska and Black Range Minerals were not returned Tuesday. Michael Belowich, a geologist with Alaska Earth Sciences who monitors the mine's water quality for Ranger Alaska, said Tuesday residents shouldn't worry about the mine hurting local water wells or causing other environmental harm if production starts there.

"We had this discussion in 1996 when another company was looking at the site," said Belowich, of Wasilla. "The water is not acidic at all. Labs, results on the water coming out of the tunnel for the past 20 years show that all it's high in is iron and there's nothing wrong with that. It sinks into the gravel like it's been doing for 50 years. Wells in the area won't be affected at all."

About 5.5 million tons of low-sulfur thermal coal were extracted from the Evan Jones Coal Mine there between 1920 and 1968 through open pit and underground mining by previous coal companies, according to Black Range Minerals' website.

"Mining was suspended when the mines' main customers, military and civilian power plants in Anchorage, switched from coal to natural gas," the website says. The revival in interest today stems from demand from Japan, China and Taiwan for low-sulfur coal, the website says.

Comments on Ranger Alaska's permit renewal must be received by 5 p.m. Tuesday. Inquiries should be sent to Chuck White at the Alaska Division of Mining, Land and Water, 550 W. Seventh Ave., Suite 920, Anchorage 99501 or [email protected].