The anti-mining group Salmon Beyond Borders expressed disappointment and dismay last week at Alaska Governor Bill Walker’s announcement that he has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with B.C. Premier Christy Clark.
This came just days after his administration asked members of his newly-formed Transboundary Rivers Citizens Advisory Work Group to provide comment on a Draft Statement of Cooperation associated with Transboundary mining.
“It’s hard not to be feel blindsided by this news,” said Salmon Beyond Borders Director Heather Hardcastle in a prepared statement. “Tribes, municipal leaders, fishing groups and Alaskans across the political spectrum are right now working to respond and provide feedback to the State of Alaska on this very topic and we were given no warning by the administration that an MOU would be signed in advance."
“Since day one, the fishing industry has called on the state and congress to secure legally binding agreements between the U.S. and Canada with substantial habitat protection and mitigation requirements to ensure the state’s interests are protected. Alaska has instead signed non-binding agreements with British Columbia that offer no visible means of holding Canada, or the mining companies, accountable for mitigating our losses should accidents like the one at Mt. Polley occur in the region,” said Dale Kelley, executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association.
