Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - Fly Fish America - September 2007 Issue - Index

back the larger of these two lakes would be the longest dam in the
world-740 feet tall and 4.3 miles long, and bothUpper Talarik
Creek and the Koktuli River would be permanently dewatered to
fi ll the lakes. Upper Talarik Creek fl ows into Lake Iliamna, and
then into Bristol Bay through the Kvichak River. The Koktuli River
fl ows into the Mulchatna River, which joins the Nushagak River,
and then fl ows into Bristol Bay.
The loss of Upper Talarik Creek and the Koktuli River would
be bad enough, but that pales in comparison to what would lie
ahead. Open-pit gold and copper mining has an environmental
track record second only to Russian nuclear power plants, and after
One of the Pebble Mine's two proposed tailings
lakes would fill this entire valley-a pristine area at
the very headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed.
The toxic lake would rise to a depth covering this
person on the ridge, with a 700-foot-tall dam
holding back an inevitable disaster.
ZERO
precious than gold
Northern Dynasty runs off with the $300 billion, the fl ooded mine
pit and overfl owing tailings lakes will be left to do their dirty work
in perpetuity. Just like they did at the Berkeley Pit.
A former open-pit copper mine near Butte, Montana, the
Berkeley Pit was closed (read "abandoned?) in 1982 by its owner,
Atlantic Richfi eld. The pit soon fi lled with water, and dissolved
oxygen allowed pyrite and sulphide minerals in the tailings to decay,
releasing acid. This toxic stew, with a pH of 2.5, is laden with
a host of heavy metals and dangerous chemicals, such as arsenic,
cyanide, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid. The Berkeley Pit is now
one of the largest Superfund sites in America.
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