Three local tribes file lawsuit challenging Army Corps’ mining permit to IPOP
The Village of Solomon, Native Village of Council and King Island Native Community filed a civil lawsuit in Alaska District Court today against the Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of IPOP LLC’s permit to dredge for gold in Bonanza Channel.
The controversial mining project was first proposed in 2018 and has garnered widespread local resistance and regulatory agencies rejections of key mining permits, some of which were appealed and then granted.
The Alaska District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, after a lengthy process, denied IPOP’s application for a Clean Water Act permit needed to put fill in U.S. waterways. IPOP appealed the decision and in a surprise decision, the Corps’ Pacific Division vacated the Alaska District’s denial and issued the permit in March 2024.
The lawsuit filed today challenges the Corps’ action to reverse its denial and to issue the permit.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the tribes by Earthjustice.
“This action challenges the defendant’s environmental analysis and decision to authorize IPOP, LLC to conduct a suction dredge mining project for gold in the pristine estuarine environment of Bonanza Channel, approximately 25 miles east of Nome, Alaska,” reads the complaint.
The tribes argue that the Corps’ approval of the project violated the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA for short, because the Corps failed to fully examine the impacts of the project and refused to complete an environmental impact statement, EIS for short. The tribes also argue the Corps violated the Clean Water Act because of the harm to the estuary that the mining project would cause and for failing to require adequate measures to mitigate that damage.
The lawsuit asks the court to vacate the Army Corps’ decision document, issued March 19, 2024 and the resulting Clean Water Act permit, approving IPOP’s suction dredge gold mining project on March 20, 2024.
“The Corp’s Pacific Division made an ill-informed and illegal decision when it approved this project,” Earthjustice Attorney Carole Holley said. “Other federal agencies and the State of Alaska have identified serious threats posed by this mine and requested more information.”
Last month the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, in a rare decision of denial, rejected IPOP’s application for a necessary state mining permit. The DNR decision agreed with an environmental assessment by the Alaska District of the Corps, which determined the project would have detrimental effects on the estuary that “are expected to be more than minimal and temporary.”
The tribes are arguing the Corps failed to prepare an environmental impact statement for the decision. They allege that the Corps’ lack of support for their factual determinations violated the Clean Water Act and failed to avoid or minimize damage to the aquatic estuary.
The Corps’ decision document to reverse the initial denial and the Clean Water Permit it then issued, “are arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law,” the court complaint reads.
The tribes ask the court to declare that the Corps’ issuance of the Clean Water Act 404 permit was arbitrary, capricious and not in accordance with the Clean Water Act and NEPA. They want the court to vacate the Corps’ decision document and permit; to grant injunctive relief and to award the tribes attorneys costs and fees.
IPOP’s proposed project would use a cutterhead to dredge for gold on 32 state mining claims within Bonanza Channel, located 28 miles east of Nome.
In the complaint document plaintiffs state the project will cause significant impacts to the ecosystem of the channel and the birds, fish wildlife and people that rely on it.
“This land and its waters are who we are. Now, the IPOP mine threatens to destroy them. Every local organization opposes this project—ask anyone who lives here. We must stand united in our resistance,” Village of Solomon President Kirsten Timbers said.