Summary of June 22, 2009 Supreme Court Decision in Couer Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, et al.

In  6-3 Clean Water Act ruling that could allow lakes and other waters to be more easily destroyed and polluted by mining and other polluting activities, the Supreme Court today upheld that an unprecedented agency permitting decision allowing the Couer Alaska mine company to avoid stringent permitting requirements and instead dump their waste directly into Alaska’s Lower Slate Lake.  Lower Slate Lake is a small but relatively deep lake with a healthy fish population, in particular Dolly Varden.  At issue is the disposal of mine tailings from Couer’s proposed operations at the Kensington Mine.  Couer is proposing to mine gold through “froth flotation”, a process by which rock is crush in a frothy water solution that causes gold particles to rise to the top, where they can be collected.  This process creates extensive waste resulting in tailing wastewater which can often contain heavy metals and other potentially toxic substances.  The Clean Water Act provides for performance standards governing the disposal of this wastewater that prohibits it from being dumped into lakes, streams, and other waters.

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