NO PEBBLE MINE Pictures from Ground Zero
by Robert Glenn Ketchum
Since 1998, I have been working to protect the spectacular resources of southwest Alaska and the fishery of Bristol Bay. Two Aperture books, a national traveling exhibition, a massive coalition of concerned users, and a lot of personal lobbying, had it looking like we were almost there. Then Donald Trump took office claiming he would always put America, and American jobs first. SO WHY destroy a BILLION-dollar-a-year, RENEWABLE salmon fishery and over 100,000 jobs for a group of international mineral speculators that will leave us with a Superfund site to clean up, and NO fishery left edible? And yet, he did,..so please, keep saying NO TO THE PEBBLE MINE!
~Robert Glenn Ketchum
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
NO PEBBLE MINE #300: I am writing a blog about NO PEBBLE MINE, but when I put up pictures like this of Wood-Tikchik State Park, I am trying to point out that this blog’s overall purpose is to “enlighten” those that may be unfamiliar with the ENTIRE area of Southwest, because everything out there is closely interconnected. I want readers to realize what a remarkable and INTACT habitat this is, like few other places on Earth. In this blog, I HAVE posted a picture of the ACTUAL mine site, #30, but that exact location has little to do with the overall impact of the Pebble project that will be more expansive. Returning to this image as an example, Tikchik is a good distance from the mine site, BUT major rivers flowing from Tikchik to the fishery of Bristol Bay, pass below other rivers draining from the proposed mine site. The Pebble Mine is not JUST a pit complex, either. The supportive road system would directly impact Lake Clark National Park, and Lake Iliamna - one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. I also want readers to understand that other parts of these connected habitats might experience “collateral damage.” Bristol Bay, Katmai, Wood-Tikchik, and Togiak all SHARE pristine air quality, and the rivers they host are some of the most bio-diverse freshwaters in the U.S. To generate power for the Pebble mine, the mine will also dig and burn coal. Burning coal not only contaminates air quality, it puts mercury particles into it, which rain back down into the groundwater system, affecting ALL the lakes and rivers. If you want to argue about the “footprint” of the mine, you need to understand the ENTIRE footprint. You cannot be selective, or A LOT OF JOBS THAT ALREADY EXIST, WILL BE LOST because of the mine!
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd @NRDC @OrvisFlyFishing #NoPebbleMine #LittleBearProd
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