Mining with minimal impact: industry seeks to become better environmental stewards.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: ENVIRONMENTAL

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Leave it better than how you found it. In Alaska, that refrain is often used to encourage those who enjoy the outdoors to make sure they leave no trace of their forays into the wilderness. What may be surprising, however, is that the mining industry also is beginning to follow this same tenet.

For many years, the industry left a large, and often indelible footprint, on the landscape. Yet as mining has evolved, more and more companies have begun to embrace the idea of environmental stewardship--impacting the land, water and wildlife as minimally as possible, and in some cases, even improving the areas in which they work.

"I've been with the Red Dog Mine for 22 years, and I've seen the concept of environmental stewardship steadily evolve," said Jim Kulas, manager, environmental and public affairs. "The idea of taking care of the environment really escalated in the early 1990s, and it's continued to grow. I think it's a healthy view, and there is definite acceptance and recognition in the industry of the importance of being good environmental stewards."

According to Tony Ebersole, Coeur spokesman, "producing and protecting" summarizes that organization's operating policy. "Coeur emphasizes an environmental and safety focus, all while producing for the benefit of our shareholders," he said. "Our culture is to provide the safest environment for our workers. Additionally, we can't produce without an unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship."

"Environmental stewardship is more than a buzzword at Fort Knox, it's how we do business," says Lorna Shaw, community and government affairs manager, Kinross Fort Knox. "Through years of inspections and audits, we have shown our commitment to high environmental standards. Only one notice of violation has been issued to Fort Knox in the operating history of the mine, for an improperly labeled used oil container. Our outstanding record is a credit to the hard work, the commitment and the environmental ethic among the employees at Fort Knox."

SUCCESS STORIES

Kulas cites the management of Red Dog Creek as an example of how a mine can make a difference. "Red Dog Creek runs through the middle of the mine's ore body, and in its pre-mine history, it was polluted by metals leaching from natural deposits," he said. "A baseline study document showed a high rate of fish mortality downstream. Fish would travel through the harmful toxicity of the water and be overwhelmed, resulting in fish kills.

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"When we started our operation, we put the creek into a manmade containment system to protect it where it came through the mine area," he continued. "We collect all site-impacted water, and treat and remove metals. The combination of metal-free water and creek improvements has resulted in better downstream water quality. Now fish are spawning and rearing...