Anchorage Press

 Flashlight

Vol. 17 Ed. 9 on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 by Author: Brendan Joel Kelley.

Elim versus the heavy metal

Residents of the Native Village of Elim are upset over uranium exploration happening a mere 31 miles from their small subsistence community on the north shore of the Norton Sound.

The village of about 300 plans to take their concerns public with a demonstration as racers in this year’s Iditarod come through the village on their way to Nome.

Activists in the Anchorage area plan to show their support for the village’s residents as well, when the Iditarod kicks off downtown on March 1, with a mid-morning protest in front of Sunshine Plaza.

“We’re hoping to bring awareness to the issue,” says Carl Wassilie, a volunteer for the Alaska Action Network. “Both the state and the feds have to recognize the trust responsibility to the tribes, as a third trustee, and that hasn’t been done yet. It’s not just about consultation, it’s about recognizing the traditional Native Village of Elim.”

Two companies—Triex Minerals and Full Metal Minerals—are proposing to mine for uranium in what’s known as the Boulder Creek Property, on the Seward Peninsula, where Alaska’s largest known uranium deposit lies. The prospect is just upstream of the village’s reserve land and partially in a shared watershed—that of the Tubutulik River.

Residents of Elim are concerned that pollution and toxics emanating from the exploration and mining projects could impact the wildlife habitat in and along the river, thus poisoning the fish and game that the villagers depend on for their subsistence.

According to Harold Shepherd, those fears are grounded. Shepherd is the executive director of the Moab, Utah-based Center for Water Advocacy, a group that works mostly with indigenous groups on water issues. He visited Elim earlier this month and compares there situation to the Navajo nation in the 1950s and ‘60s, when nearby uranium mining was connected to a spike in cancer and other problems.

In addition to being radioactive, uranium is often found near other toxic metals, such as selenium or magnesium, says Shepherd. These could hurt populations of fish, like salmon, that Elim residents depend on. But even if they don’t, the metals bio-accumulate in both fish and people, meaning that eventually, people who eat enough tainted fish, a staple of Elim villagers diet, will build up toxic levels.

The Alaska Action Center is asking for public meetings and hearings regarding the impact of uranium exploration in the Tubutulik watershed, and asking Governor Palin to issue a moratorium on uranium exploration until the villages effected have become part of the control process.

—Brendan Joel Kelley