Alaska Forum on the Environment Report
NVN Environmental Director, Mitchell Dammeyer, highlights items of particular interest to Napaimute from the AFE Conference held in Anchorage, February 8-12, 2010
Overview
The Alaska Forum on the Environment, along with GAP Training in October, serves as the backbone of the meeting and training opportunities for GAP recipients. In past years, even with a large presence of GAP attendees at AFE, there was also a large presence of general attendees across a range of interest groups, from industry, environmental groups, academics, the general public, and beyond. This meant that AFE was a very broad platform for wide ranging environmental interests. This year it seemed that GAP took over the AFE, reducing it to a GAP event. There was not nearly as broad of interest and information as an organization like Napaimute gets the most benefit from.
Backhauling
There has been increasing interest in backhauling waste from villages throughout the region. As this effort has gained steam, Napaimute has worked to guide the discussion to determining what materials are “worthy” to be backhauled. When issues of backhauling are raised, a clear discussion of the benefits of backhauling different items needs to take place. Items that are an environmental hazard, such as batteries, need to be dealt with first. After environmentally sensitive items are being properly dealt with, other items such as iron or aluminum can be backhauled if it is determined to be a good use of resources (program funds, etc). This determination of priorities is not currently being clearly dealt with in discussions of backhauling. If current trends continue, backhauling will come up more in the future in formats such as the Kuskokwim Watershed Council, and Napaimute will need to be wary of becoming involved in “blind” backhauling efforts.
Donlin Creek
During slow periods of the AFE, Napaimute was able to meet with Donlin Creek representatives. Currently the operators are continuing to work to optimize the existing feasibility study. The main thrust of current work is determining the potential of a natural gas pipeline from the South-central area (Anchorage) to the Donlin project. If current/potential gas production can support the needs of the Donlin project, field work this summer will be initiated along the proposed route. The decision as to whether gas supplies are sufficient will be determined late spring/early summer. The new data from potential fieldwork would be included in a new, updated feasibility study. If it is determined that there is not sufficient gas in the South-central region, the Donlin Creek operators continue to say that they will move forward with permitting, with the start moved forward to late 2010.
NEPA
As natural resource extraction issues have not gone away, Napaimute continues to engage in discussions about the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process. If the Donlin project moves forward to permitting, approaching the NEPA process from the correct perspective, one which supports Napaimute’s needs, but also interfaces well with the agencies, will be critical to successful permitting, from Napaimute’s perspective. AFE provided an opportunity to more closely examine the Scoping process of the NEPA. Scoping is the time when the issues which are to be included in the Environmental Impact Statement are determined. This process takes place quickly after the permitting documents are submitted to the agencies, requiring prior preparation.
Created By mleary on 02/17/2010 06:17 PM
Last updated by mleary on 02/17/2010 06:25 PM
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