Chuitna Coal Project

The EPA is currently gathering information and data for a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on a proposal to build the largest open-pit coal mine in Alaskan state history. PacRim Coal, a mining conglomerate based outside of Alaska, has applied for permits to develop the Beluga Coal Field located 40 miles west of Anchorage.

Introduction to Chuitna Coal Mine

You may have heard of the plans to develop a massive coal strip mine near the small community of Beluga and the village of Tyonek, 40 miles west of Anchorage across the Cook Inlet.  This enormous project would extract more than 1 billion tons of coal over the next 25 years, making it the largest coal mine in Alaskan history.

According to the EPA, if the proposed project is approved, PacRim's development would include a surface coal mine and associated support facilities. The proposed infrastructure would include a mine access road, coal transport conveyor, personnel housing, and an air strip facility. At Ladd Landing, directly on Cook Inlet, a logistic center and coal export terminal would be built. The coal export terminal would include a 10,000-foot trestle constructed into Cook Inlet for the purpose of loading ocean-going coal transport ships.

ACE Public Lands Advocate, Eric Uhde, has met periodically with residents of Beluga to hear the concerns they have about a project of this size in their close-knit neighborhood.  Many residents questioned the impact of the proposed mine on air and water quality, on the lifestyle of the small community which relies on healthy fish stocks, and on disturbance of the surrounding watershed.  Initial development plans call for the daily discharge of 7 million gallons of mine wastewater, the equivalent of dumping 10½ olympic-size swimming pools of industrial waste into the pristine salmon streams of the Chuitna River Watershed.