Younger generation protest Pebble's water-use violations

Published on February 19th, 2010

By TAMMY JUDD

"DNR! Does Not Regulate! DNR! Does Not Regulate!" chanted the crowd in hopes their voices might be heard some 10 floors up where the Department of Natural Resources offices are located.

The group, made up of former residents of Dillingham and other Bristol Bay communities and their supporters, had gathered in the courtyard outside the tall office building in downtown Anchorage on Feb. 18 to protest recently admitted water-use violations by Pebble Partnership and to object to Alaska Department of Natural Resources' part in allowing that to happen.

"We all want to remember why we're here today. We're here because we want DNR to show us that we can trust them. We want them to stay on top of it," said Apayo Moore through a megaphone before launching into another chant: "Bristol Bay, keep it wild! Bristol Bay, keep it wild!" and "Clean water, wild salmon! Clean water, wild salmon!"

Moore, one of the "Rally for Bristol Bay" organizers, estimated as many as 50 people came and went throughout the hour-long protest. Some didn't stay long in the humid-cold, overcast day, the chill exaggerated by a nippy wind.

Repeated choruses of "Protect Bristol Bay!" "Stop Pebble mine!" "Say no to toxic waste!" and "Save our fish!" rang out periodically.

"There's a bunch of people from Bristol Bay right here," said Verner Wilson, another of the rally organizers. "We're members of the younger generation and we want to protect our fishery resource. And I want to say that as a younger person, it's been sort of, I wouldn't say difficult, but I felt like I grew up faster because of this issue, because we have to take on these multibillion dollar mining corporations who are trying to come into our lands, and our people have been here for thousands of years, and pollute our resources. So this is why we're here today."

Bobby Andrew, of Dillingham, and his niece Dora Andrew-Ihrke, who is a retired school teacher from Dillingham who now lives in Anchorage stopped to support the rally. She's on the board of director for Aleknagik Native Ltd.

"It's really heartening to see the younger group take action, because it's usually our generation that has been the leaders, and we can see prospective young leaders emerging," said Andrew-Ihrke.

Andrew, board president of Aleknagik Native Ltd., was in Anchorage en route to a board meeting in Girdwood.

"I think the timing of this here is perfect because of what's happening with the DNR permits, and then they're not really regulating, and with Nunamta's suit coming out that there's some permits that have been issued behind closed doors and that kind of concerns me, basically because of what already happened to the Nushagak River or the Koktuli River, there's a lot less fish than there used to be," Andrew said.

Andrew and Luki Akelkok, chairman of the Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of the Land) board, have visited the Koktuli River annually for a number of years and were there in August.

"Every year there's a lot less fish," Andrew said.

Last summer National Geographic was going to come and take pictures of the fish but canceled because there weren't many fish.

"What DNR needs to do is do a study where, or investigate further, where the Pebble Partnership has been getting their water, and if they're drilling and using that mud EZ, I don't remember the name, if there's chemicals and it goes through ground water then there's already an impact on the species of salmon that goes up the Koktuli," said Andrew.

He recollected that the number of fish started to decline about three years ago.

About six years ago, he and Akelkok started to go to Koktuli ... "Just to see the numbers of fish. They're not really documented, just visual, and I've taken some photos on the first trip, and on the second trip, and on the third trip, and each year there's been less," Andrew said.

The youth at the rally acknowledged Andrew and Andrew-Ihrke's presence and Andrew was handed the megaphone from which he led a couple chant of "Protect Bristol Bay" and "No secret deals!"

He took time to speak briefly to the group to thank them for being there.

"The more we work together in making sure the Department of Natural Resources goes by what we want, and make sure the public is aware of the permits that they're going to be issuing. And we've got to remind the State of Alaska Department of Resources to follow the rules and regulations that the legislature adopted in order to make sure the resources that are owned by all of the people in the state are protected," Andrew said.

The group of youth listened intently, cheered enthusiastically in appreciation of his words, and then launched into repeated choruses of, "Clean water, wild salmon!" and "Stop Pebble mine."