RED DOG CLAIMS FIRST-TIME FISH LIFE IN AQALUGRUAQ CREEK!
As most everyone has heard, Red Dog Mine claims there is first-time fish life in the creek they discharge their waste into. Well, it's true. Aqalugruaq Creek had a lot of 'rusty colored' substance all over the creek which prevented any type of living matter to survive there. Well, it's true.
Before they began discharging into the creek, it was a dormant creek, absolutely no movement, no aquatic life. Here is why it had no aquatic life i.e. fish. Dissolved oxygen levels depend on temperature, pond depth, productivity and fertility, and water movement and without oxygen, THERE IS NO FISH. Red Dog began discharging their waste into Aqalugruaq Creek. The excessive water movement which began cleaning the creek is creating oxygen in the once dormant water, hence the new life in the river i.e. fish. The fish need oxygen to survive in any kind of water.
And of course the creek is clean now; the rush of all that water is and did take all that 'rusty colored substance' to the Wulik River. Where do you think all that once dormant water all go to when they started discharging? You got it! To the Kivalina drinking water source.
If you ever see fish seemingly gasping for air on the surface of the water, they are trying to get oxygen because there is none in the water where they are swimming at. And if a run of trout decides not to go into the Wulik River, you will know why. There is no oxygen in the water and what causes that you can read it below.
FISH AND DISSOLVED OXYGEN
During a workshop for Waterplant Operators, we found out during one of the sessions was that fish need dissolved oxygen to survive in the water. If there is no oxygen, fish kill will result. OR the fish won't go into the water that lacks oxygen. For instance, the rivers; the fish will turn right back to the ocean if the rivers lack oxygen content. We recently heard from a Kobuk River village that they are getting 'Kivalina's trout' as he put it, which is an unusual occurance for them. An elder in Kivalina recently said one run of trout doesn't go into the river at some times in the summer. When that happens, the first trout runs gets stuck upriver at the same time.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) refers to oxygen gas that is dissolved in water. Fish "breathe" oxygen just as land animals do. However, fish are able to absorb oxygen directly from the water into their bloodstream using gills, whereas land animals use lungs to absorb oxygen from the atmosphere. Oxygen depletion refers to low levels of DO and may result in fish mortality. A concentration of 5 mg/L DO is recommended for optimum fish health. Sensitivity to low levels of dissolved oxygen is species specific, however, most species of fish are distressed when DO falls to 2-4 mg/L. Mortality usually occurs at concentrations less than 2 mg/L. The number of fish that die during an oxygen depletion event is determined by how low the DO gets and how long it stays down. Usually larger fish are affected by low DO before smaller fish are. Oxygen depletion occurs when oxygen consumption exceeds oxygen production. Increases in oxygen consumption can be caused by an over-abundance of aquatic plants or algae in the ecosystem, "turnover" of a body of water (see Stratification/Pond Turnover section), increased organic waste entering the water (i.e., manure from feedlots, septic tank waste water, and excess fish feed), death and decay of organic matter (i.e., plant or algae die-offs), or by certain chemicals (i.e., formalin) that remove oxygen directly from the water column. (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa002)
What Is Dissolved Oxygen?
What is Oxygen Depletion?
What Causes Oxygen Depletion?
TECK COMINCO
Teck Cominco will be returning to Kivalina today February 25, to collect more samples from the Reverse Osmosis units.
TECK COMINCO TEST RESULTS ON WATER SAMPLES
After the results from the sludge tests came back with high metals results, Teck Cominco came to Kivalina and took samples from RO units and raw water. Their results came in a few days ago as follows from a household:
RAW WATER (RW) REVERSE OSMOSIS (RO)
METAL QUAL(RW) MDL QUAL (RO)
Aluminum 0.028 0.001 0.008
Barium 0.141 0.003 0.016
Calcium 204 0.2 20.1
Copper 0.0022 0.0005 No result
Magnesium 76.2 0.2 6.9
Nickel 0.0080 0.0006 0.0009
Selenium 0.0093 0.0001 0.0006
Silica 12.9 0.4 2.8
Silicon 6.0 0.2 1.3
Sodium 41.9 0.3 10.6
Strontium 1.25 0.01 0.12
AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE RESULTS, THE WATER FROM THE RO UNIT IS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THEN THE RAW WATER SAMPLE RESULTS. We stress again, please use your RO units when you plan on drinking the tank water.
Those that get ice for water or water from Kivalina River, their RO units are lasting much longer then those that use the tank water.
SAMPLE RESULTS FROM SLUDGE TEST
Recently, a local resident took a sludge sample from an RO unit container where the water is first poured. The City's attorney took the sample with him to California and had it analyzed by ALS Laboratory Group - FC. The results were very alarming. The water comes from the Wulik River and is stored in the water tanks which are owned by the City. The sludge comes from the water that is serviced to the public through the watering point. The significant results included metals such as:
Target Analyte Result Report Limit
Calcium 340,000 4,100
Copper 56 4.1
Iron 68 41
Magnesium 1,100 410
Manganese 13 4.1
Phophorus 140 82
Silicon 88 21
Sodium 630 410
Strontium 1,900 4.1
Sulfur 4,100 82
Zinc 390 8.2
Keep in mind, this is the sludge, not the water. Water samples were later taken for testing by Teck Cominco but the City will be conducting it's own sampling and have them analyzed by an independent lab.
RED DOG MINE CITED FOR SAMPLING VIOLATIONS!
AUGUST 2009 Red Dog Mine has been cited by EPA for diluting their sample to lower their limits to an acceptable level. The State has fined them for these violations.
"Mine Permit: Sample Violations on August 24-30, 2006, EPA's National Enforcement and Investigations Center ("NEIC") inspected Respondent's Facility to determine its compliance with the requirements of the CWA and the Mine and Port NPDES Permits. At the time of the NEIC inspection, the Respondent was adding fresh water from Bons Creek reservoir to Water Treatment Plant 2 prior to discharge through Outfall 001." and further states "Respondents Mine Permit did not provide for the addition of water from Bons Creek reservoir at this point in Water Treatment Plan 2."
Violations also occurred in 2004, 2005 and 2006 for the mine.
"Port Permit - Effluent Limit Exceedences: In May 2005, Respondent discharged effluent from Outfall 005 the entire month for a total of 31 days. During that month, the Facility had 65 violations of the Port Permit. Also on May 2005, Respondent constituted thirty-one (31) violations. On June 2004, September 2006 and April 2007 were unpermitted discharges."
Teck Cominco was penalized $120,000 for these violations which was to be paid to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
FISH COVERED WITH SORES CAUGHT AT THE WULIK RIVER just below drinking water source!
This fish was caught with a set net up the Wulik River.
AUGUST 19, 2009 While netting for fish up the Wulik River near what we consider the salmon hotspot, we caught this trout on our net. It was still alive and fighting but it was full of sores with a clear puss substance around the sores and white substance in the middle of the sores. This fish was captured on both still photos and video camera. The City reported the catch to Fish and Game and have been asked to send the trout to Kotzebue for analysis.
Unfortunately, not everyone reports other incidents like this because they do not go out hunting or fishing to look for things like this. They are out there to subsist for food for their winter supply. All they want to do is gather food for the winter. However, for those who have a responsibility for the health and welfare of the people do take incidents like this seriously and will document them.
According to Fish and Game at Kotzebue, this is a regular occurance for all fish. They rub against an object and the slime is wiped away which is their protection from fungal bacteria. However, if there were more then one fish in this condition, there would be cause for concern, they say. This is the only fish we caught with sores on it.
This fish was caught while seining the Wulik River in 2008.
Teck Cominco Red Dog Mine
The Red Dog Mine is located in northwestern Alaska, approximately 82 miles north of Kotzebue, and 46 miles inland from the coast of the Chukchi Sea. The mine is located on the Middle Fork of Red Dog Creek in the DeLong Mountains of the western Brooks Range, in an area that is otherwise remote and undeveloped. Red Dog is a partnership between NANA and Teck Cominco Alaska. The mine is an important component of the economy of Northwest Alaska, employing approximately 450 people directly and creating an additional 150 jobs indirectly. A majority of the employees are NANA shareholders (with about ten (10) being from Kivalina). It has been operating continuously since its opening in 1989.
Red Dog produces more than one million tons of zinc and lead concentrates annually using conventional open-pit mining, milling and flotation technologies. All concentrates are exported to world markets via the DeLong Mountain Transportation System, which connects the mine and millsite to port facilities on the Chukchi Sea. http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/mlw/mining/largemine/reddog/
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Kivalina's Side (In a nutshell)
During the discussions of opening the Red Dog Mine near Kivalina before it's initial construction, an elder who never attends public meetings knew it was time to attend one when he heard that Red Dog was coming to Kivalina for a public meeting to discuss the opening of the mine. During the meeting, he made mention that if the mine was built, there would be dramatic changes to the Wulik River and it's inhabitants, namely the Dolly Varden. Our water wouldn't be the same again and the fish would be affected dramatically. He did not speak to the Red Dog officials who were at the meeting. Instead, he spoke directly to the local people who had come to attend the meeting. He told them they would have to watch the fish, the water, the land and the air more closely then they do now. They would have to do that to protect their subsistence resources. That was his contribution to the public meeting. He has since passed away and yes, we have to watch the river and the land very closely now.
To date, there has been a fish kill and the water has not been the same. The closest term we can use to describe the taste of the water is 'brackish'. It is discovered that their discharge of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) from Red Dog Mines own reports is way over their limits which has caused a change in the water and the fish kill. Efforts to inform Teck Cominco about these changes and incidents fell on deaf ears.
Because of that, both councils decided to file a lawsuit to get Teck Cominco back into compliance with their discharge limits. The councils are told they cannot file a lawsuit for reasons I am not aware of but others do know. Based on that information, seven (7) local people decided to step in. They filed a lawsuit against Teck Cominco to get them back to their permit levels. Teck Cominco was fined for those violations and the fees were paid to the State of Alaska. To date, the water has slightly improved but many still do not drink it because of the knowledge that Red Dog Mine's human waste also goes to the tailings pond, which is than released to the Red Dog Creek after treatment, which leads to the Wulik River via Aqalugrauq Creek.
Some residents who can afford it now get their drinking water from the Kivalina River. Not many have resources to retrieve their drinking water from that river so many drink the water provided by the City of Kivalina.
To date, because of the lawsuit, Teck Cominco has since provided to the public a system that will clean the water even further for consumption, a reverse osmosis system. That is expected to begin November 2008. A pipeline leading directly to the ocean is under discussion. However, the current site where they are mining for ore is expected to be depleted by 2012 so they are expanding their operations to include a new site adjacent to the current site. That site is expected to expand operations to 2035.
THE REVEREND CLINTON E. SWAN and his wife Charlotte Swan.
Elder Clinton E. Swan was the elder who told the people who were at the public meeting that they would have to watch their water, land and air more closer then usual because of the Red Dog Mine. He knew what the future would hold when they eventually would start mining. He especially knew that the fish would be affected by it.
Photo taken in the later 1970's. Clinton and Charlotte have since passed away in 2000 and 2002.
During the last years of his life, when having a cup of tea after having lunch or dinner, he would sit at the table staring at his cup while stirring his tea. He'd get a piece of papertowel and begin removing a white, foamy substance at the rim of his cup with his spoon and wipe the spoon clean on the papertowel. His tea would be as dark as coffee yet he would drink it without complaint because he loved drinking tea.
I began drinking tea later on in life. Any time I drank some tea with water from the Wulik River, I had to remove the same type of white substance from the rim of my cup. However, when I traveled to the city, the tea would would be a clear, light brown color with no white substance. I began using water from the Kivalina River and rain water gathered during the rainy season.