RDC’s 23rd Annual Conference Presentations
Mayor Ross Schaeffer, Northwest Arctic Borough
Hello Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the RDC staff for inviting me to speak on the your 23rd Annual Conference.
To enlighten those of you who don’t know who I am, I’ll give you a brief biographical history of myself and the region I represent.
My name is Roswell L. Schaeffer, Sr., currently serving as the Northwest Arctic Borough mayor. I am from the town of Kotzebue, Alaska 30 miles within the Arctic Circle. My home town is also the hub center of the 10 villages that make up the Northwest Arctic Borough. The Northwest Arctic Borough is roughly the size of Indiana with a population of 7200 people within these 11 villages. This borough is a home rule borough with a strong mayor form of government including 11 assembly members. This borough has all the responsibility of the planning, zoning powers for all communities except Kotzebue. The borough also has primary responsibility on Economic Development, public services and education.
As most of you might already know, the primary industrial development project in our borough is the world’s largest zinc and lead mine, the Red Dog Mine. The Red Dog Mine is operated by Teck Cominco. The lands are owned by NANA Regional Corporation.
The Northwest Arctic Borough also has within its borders, the Ambler Mining District of which lies a vast deposit of copper and other minerals. Within the Chukchi Sea in the Hope basin area are huge deposits of natural gas and possibly oil. This Hope Basin as identified by Mineral Management Services includes the water bodies near Pt. Hope to the Kotzebue Sound.
As I look at your theme for our panel, I am reminded of that title almost daily, “Crisis or Opportunity: Alaska’s Regional Economies”. The Red Dog Mine has been in operation for ten years or more. The very existence of the Northwest Arctic Borough is due to the development of this mine. What an opportunity for Northwest Alaska and the State of Alaska. Yet recently we have entered into a crisis mode. Several things have happened within this last year to turn around an economic opportunity into a crisis. First of all, the Red Dog Mine is experiencing the lowest zinc and lead prices in a decade. Secondly, the Kivalina Relocation Planning Committee has filed a $63 million dollar lawsuit alleging violations to the Clean Water Act, through an environmental law firm in California.
The first crisis the Red Dog Mine dealt with was in 1991 when the exposed zinc and lead outcroppings began major seepage into the Red Dog creek. I was the president of NANA Regional corporation at that time. By 1992 Cominco had provided a major environmental fix of this situation by diverting the main body of water from the creek away from the mineral seepage areas, closing and isolating the seepage areas so that the seepage could be dammed and pumped into the actual tailings pond, thereby separating the polluted waters and the flow of clean water into the creek. That was a $12 million dollar fix. This fix was of a nature that provided the Red Dog Mine a great opportunity to show the world that they were committed to running the mine in a safe and environmentally friendly way.
This time of low ore prices is something that the Red Dog Mine must ride out and hope will change to the positive. The crisis with the pending lawsuit is another story. The Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly and myself, under advise from our attorneys have intervened in this lawsuit on behalf of the defendants, TeckCominco, knowing full well that we also have a moral obligation to protect the environment so that the village of Kivalina will have safe and clean water now and in the future. At the same time, the Northwest Arctic Borough has $46 million dollars in bond debt from the construction of village schools and expect an additional $24 million in the near future. Without revenue from Teck Cominco, we would have no way to pay off those bonds. What a position to be in….between a rock and a hard place. I assure you that the Northwest Arctic Borough will work deligently to make this crisis an opportunity for all concerned.
I do believe that our residents in Northwest Arctic Borough must begin to understand what is happening on the Willuk River as it flows near Kivalina. Natural seepages in other creeks are a serious problem. Understanding the outcroppings of sulfur must also be studied to determine if this is the substance that is changing the taste of the water. And finally, are the environmental standards that the State have established for discharge at the Red Dog Mine and the subsequent compliance by the Red Dog Mine adequate for a healthy water system along the Willuk Rive drainage? The State of Alaska believes they are, TeckCominco believes they are, NANA Regional Corporation believes they are and the Northwest Arctic Borough believes they are. As with any community in this great state or nation, the Northwest Arctic Borough is not exempt from our own people becoming environmentalists.
There is a lot of talk about the Ambler Mining District but I have not seen anything of substance. The State DOT Northwest Transportation Plan meetings in all of the villages in the Northwest Arctic Borough have all agreed that a railroad or road corridor from the Ambler Mining District to Fairbanks is out of the question. The residents of Northwest Arctic Borough have decided to incorporate in their transportation plan that all mining activity must somehow benefit its communities and individuals by developing corridors to the coast line of the borough thereby developing opportunities for borough residents to have jobs in the future. The State is seriously reviewing the opportunities of the Aero-Cat aircraft as the best possible alternative to hauling ore products. Very little infrastructure would have to be built to move ore from mining districts. This could be a great opportunity for the mining industry in the future.
Offshore exploration and drilling pose a very huge threat for residents of both boroughs due to the location of the Hope Basin natural gas and oil lease possibilities.
These are prime migration routes for all of our sea mammals on which we rely heavily for sustenance. Future offshore development must have the local communities involved in such a way that this ownership by local communities and businesses may allow for this potential crisis to become opportunities in the future. The Native people cannot be left out of the equation if and when development occurs.
The current politic situation for sustainable resource development is another “crisis or opportunity”. The atmosphere and political rhetoric provides Industry with a high level of optimism for great potential to develop Alaska’s resources. At the same time, this political change and commitment to resource development provide Alaska’s Native people with a high level of pessimism, a potential crisis for rural Alaska. The Red Dog Mine is a prime example of sustainable resource development. It was done in such a way to provide job and economic opportunities for the region’s local people. It was meant to last 40 to 50 years. Sustainable Resource Development, to remain a potential ‘opportunity’ must be done with emphasis on sustainability. We must plan this is such a way that we don’t extract everything all at once during this administration and leave nothing for the future.
The joint Northwest Arctic Borough and North Slope Borough Economic Summits are very important meetings that will eventually pave the way for more industrial and human development in the future. We must continue to focus on protection of the Native lifeways, especially when it comes to subsistence foods and resources, focus on the development of human potential of those residents where mining occurs, focus on providing opportunities for community governments and people to build sustainable economies, and lastly involve the local communities in any development within their boundaries. I believe the opportunities out weigh the crisis that usually accompanies these economic opportunities. I believe that the future looks bright. I hope many of you will join us in Kotzebue on February 3rd & 4th for our third Economic Summit meeting. Thank you.
