Two weeks remain to submit public comments on the proposed Donlin Gold mine’s draft environmental impact statement, or EIS. This week, we have a two-part episode on the proposed mine.
Part 1: A conversation with Donlin General Manager Stan Foo, NOVAGOLD President and CEO Greg Lang, and USA Barrick Gold General Manager Andy Cole discussing how the proposed mine might affect the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta.
Listen to Part 1:
Part 2: On Monday the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and AECOM wrapped up several months of traveling the YK Delta and other areas of the state to explain the draft EIS to affected communities and to collect public comments on the document. The U.S. Army Corps is the lead federal agency on the project, and AECOM is the international engineering and environmental firm contracted to create the draft EIS.
Keith Gordon is the U.S. Army Corps Project Manager overseeing the EIS. He presented the draft at every public comment meeting, and KYUK spoke with him about what he observed in the various communities and about the steps ahead for the EIS process.
Listen to Part 2:
Two things Gordon mentions is NEPA and ANILCA. NEPA is the National Environmental Policy Act, a federal act regulating how the U.S. Army Corps navigates the draft EIS process. ANILCA is the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, another federal act, which regulates how the Bureau of Land Management navigates the draft EIS process. The BLM is collecting subsistence concerns surrounding the project.
You can submit comments on the draft EIS here.
Delta Affairs Weekly is a Friday talk program examining the issues and people affecting Bethel and the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. The program airs live Friday at 11:30 a.m. with a replay at 8:30 p.m.
