Drillbits & Tailings - Vol 8, # 2

Drillbits & Tailings
Volume 8, Number 2
February 28, 2003


"Our Indigenous peoples have a direct spiritual, cultural, intimate relationship to the natural world, and we suffer most immediately and directly from any adverse effects of imposed or existing unsustainable development projects. We are the stakeholders, and at the first point of impact, and we need to create a mechanism that would build alliances, empower, educate and unify our peoples to build solidarity in a positive way, to effectively address the profound issues and concerns of the first nations of this land," said Faith Gemill, Gwich’in Leader. (See story, "Alaskan Native Activists Take a Firm Stand Against Oil and Gas, Launching a New Alliance".)
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Contents

NEWS
+ Alaskan Native Activists Take a Firm Stand Against Oil and Gas, Launching a New Alliance
+ Newmont Moves In to Open Ghana's Closed Forest Reserves

COMMUNITY VOICES: U'wa Communique
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Tell Noranda “NO” to its Proposed Expansion Into Patagonia
HOTSPOTS: Argentina, Australia, Burma, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Nigeria, Russia, Venezuela, United States
VITAL STATISTICS: Alaska Oil, Mining and the Environment
COMMUNITY PIPELINE: Contacts, Publications

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Alaskan Native Activists Take a Firm Stand Against Oil and Gas, Launching a New Alliance

An alliance of grass-roots native activists came together during the fifth annual Alaska Forum on the Environment to launch REDOIL (Resisting Environmental Devastation On Indigenous Lands), a network of grassroots Indigenous activists in Alaska confronting oil and gas exploration. The network vociferously condemned extractive industries and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA), asserting their mission for the active unification and empowerment of all indigenous peoples and working to ensure the health and well-being of their people and Mother Earth.

"This violates our inherent sovereign rights as indigenous peoples to retain our lands, our cultures and our spirituality. We will not sacrifice the birthright of our future generations for short-term economic gain that will have long-term devastation on our peoples," said Faith Gemmill, Gwich'in leader and REDOIL member.

During the four-day Forum in Anchorage beginning on February 10, the group held a press conference. Chief Evon Peter, of Arctic Village, amplified the group's mission at the press conference, speaking out against the Settlement Act and citing it as an "illegitimate piece of legislation to gain access to Native lands."

Formed in June of 2002, the alliance includes Alaska Natives of the Athabascan, Inupiat, Eyak, Yupik, Tlingit, and other peoples. They have allied to address aboriginal, economic and environment justice issues concerning the role of corporations, the state of Alaska and the federal government in oil and gas development.

The Group is committed to a moratorium of all new exploration for oil, gas and coal as a first step towards the full phase-out of fossil fuels, with a just transition to sustainable jobs, energy and environment.

Each member is committed to working for the inherent right to self-determination for all indigenous peoples. They reject the ANSCA, identifying it as an illegitimate infringement on indigenous peoples' right to sovereignty and self-determination.

Passed in 1971, ANSCA gave Alaska Natives title to 44 million acres and US$962 million to settle aboriginal land claims by creating thirteen for-profit corporations. ANCSA was the largest land claim settlement in U.S. history.

Oil companies, due to their interest in the Trans-Alaskan Pipelines System, lobbied hard for the passage of ANCSA, fearing that Native claims along the proposed route might prohibit the granting of a right of way.

Even Justice Thomas Berger, in a 1985 report of the Alaska Native Review Commission regarding the Act, said, "The imposition of a settlement of land claims that is based on corporate structures was an inappropriate choice. The village has lost its political and social autonomy."

"Our Indigenous peoples have a direct spiritual, cultural, intimate relationship to the natural world, and we suffer most immediately and directly from any adverse effects of imposed or existing unsustainable development projects. We are the stakeholders, and at the first point of impact, and we need to create a mechanism that would build alliances, empower, educate and unify our peoples to build solidarity in a positive way to effectively address the profound issues and concerns of the first nations of this land," said Gemill in her remarks in the opening ceremony of the network's launch.

The fifth annual Alaska Forum on the Environment began as a conference that focused exclusively on environmental concerns facing federal government facilities in Alaska. It has evolved to include more participants, becoming a forum for education and interaction among all forms of government agencies, non-profit organizations and the general public.

While the forum has more participants, it has many notorious sponsors, such as the US Army, US Department of Interior, US Environmental Protection Agency, British Petroleum Exploration (Alaska), Inc., Conoco Phillips, the Bureau of Land Management and- the most notorious- Bureau of Indian Affairs, amongst others.

SOURCES: "Native group wants to stop new searches for gas, oil," by Paula Dobbyn, Anchorage Daily News, February 13, 2003; "Village Journey: The Report of the Alaska Native Review Commission," New York, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, Berger, Justice T. R., 1985.


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Newmont Moves In to Open Ghana's Closed Forest Reserves

One of the world's largest gold mining companies, Denver-based Newmont, will be granted licenses for two new operations in Ghana. This dangerous precedent will allow Newmont to enter Ghana for the first time and pour in an initial US$450 million to exploit Ghanaian land, law and people.

"Our villages have already been so rapaciously deforested by mining and the health and the quality of remaining forests continue to decline and now they are asking for the forest reserves, do they think Ghanaians wash their faces from their chin upwards. Please write all that I have said and tell the authorities that I said so," said Akosua Birago a sixty-two year old farmer at Abekoase in Ghana’s Western Region.

This recent development is an outgrowth of Ghana's competition for foreign investment within the mining sector and a preview of next June’s proposed introduction of new legislation on new, 'friendlier' mining laws.

Licenses have also been promised to Ghana's Ashanti, Australia's Red Back and Canada's Nevsun Resources. Mining laws in Ghana are changing, opening up protected forest reserves to these companies for exploration.

Ghana is Africa's second largest gold producer. Gold contributes approximately forty percent of foreign exchange earnings and a little more than six percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

In its fact finding mission in the Wassa area, Ghana's Human Rights and Administrative Justice Committee recently reported “…overwhelming evidence of human rights violations occasioned by the mining activities, which were not sporadic but a well established pattern common to almost all mining communities." These patterns of abuse are notoriously prevalent throughout Newmont’s operations around the world.

Mining operations in Ghana have displaced more than 50,000 indigenous people without just compensation, employed less than 20,000 Ghanaians (due to over-reliance on expatriate workers), burned villages, illegally detained activists, raped women and continually denied the culture.

A large consortium of civil society activists, including groups centered on human rights, labor, religion, women's rights, environment, and the communities affected by the proposed mining, have vowed to fight these decisions and continue to propose viable and sustainable alternatives.

The head of conservation programs at the Ghana Wildlife Society, Ishmael Jesse-Dodoo, said, "We should not always look at the money; it is transient. We should be looking at issues like sustainable tourism, alternative livelihood programs, food security, etc.- options that can sustain the livelihoods of present and future generations."

Environmentalists warn that mining operations within the pristine eco-forests will speed mass deforestation and environmental degradation in the country and pollute the fragile freshwater systems and topsoil with cyanide and arsenic.

“Just look at this country’s forest estate, We had about 8.3 million hectares now were left with only 1.2 hectares and we still want to give out some more for mining when we know very well that after the mining there will be no forests," said Friends of the Earth's Abraham Baffoe.

According to the Ministry of Lands and Forestry, less than two percent of Ghana's native tree cover remains intact. These forests are home to 34 species of plants, 13 of mammal, eight of birds, 23 of butterflies and two of reptiles, all internationally recognized as in danger of extinction. They have over seven hundred types of tropical trees and forest monkeys, fish and snakes- thus designating them as Special Biological Protection Areas and Globally Significant Bio-diversity Areas.

Ghana signed the Convention on Biological Diversity during the Earth Summit in 1992, ratified in 1994. Representatives from Ghana delivered speeches at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 declaring its commitment to forest protection and bio-diversity. Ghanaian president John Kufuor has just shown the world how shallow his administration's words are.

At a time when international gold prices are at a six-year high due to investor caution surrounding the impending war with Iraq, mining minister Kwadwo Agyei-Darko told a mining conference in South Africa that, "Our doors are open," and the companies, "did not wait in vain." Minister Agyei-Darko indicated that he expects the new mining laws to go through this year. These laws will be the keys to opening the protected
forest preserves.

This statement comes as no surprise after Newmont and other mining companies issued veiled threats of lawsuits, or complete closedowns and relocations, to Tanzania in order to blackmail the government to follow through on the permits after exploration had started. The allowance of exploration activities was illegally granted by the former corrupt Rawlings regime.


Written by Charity Bowles, who worked with Friends of the Earth, Ghana, on the National Coalition on Mining. She will be graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, this May.

SOURCES: "Newmont's Ghana Mine Project Seen Starting in August," Reuters, February 14, 2003; "Ghana Lures Miners with New Laws Opening Forests," Reuters, February 20, 2003; "Golden Greed: Trouble Looms Over Ghana's Reserves," Mike Anane, League of Environmental Journalists, February 12, 2003.


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COMMUNITY VOICES:

U'wa Comunique: Statement to the Colombian and International Communities

THE U’WA DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF ECOPETROL FROM OUR SACRED LAND

If ECOPETROL continues with the Sirirí project in U’wa territory, our culture will disappear.

With this affirmation, we want to remind and inform people that ECOPETROL and its associated companies like OXY have destroyed indigenous cultures and the environment. Examples are the Guahibo tribe in Arauca, the Motilones Bari tribe in Norte Santander, the indigenous brothers of the Putumayo, and now us. In these lands, violence, hunger, forced displacement, state abandonment and absolute poverty are rampant.


Plan Colombia has facilitated the invasion of transnational petroleum companies like OXY onto our lands. The militarization of our lands is guaranteeing oil operations like exploration, exploitation and transportation of this “black gold” from the department of Arauca to Coveñas and the Gibraltar 1 oil project. In response to Colombia’s need to secure its petroleum interests, two “rehabilitation zones” * have been created, one of them being the department of Arauca, which directly affects our territory.

Roberto Afanador Cobaria ­ Berito Kubaruwa- current U’wa President took office yesterday, February 11, before the Mayor of the municipality of Cubará. This U’wa leader has received the official order of our maximum authorities to continue with the national and international campaign against ECOPETROL’s oil project in U’wa ancestral territory.

“The U’wa will not allow oil exploration in our sacred territory,” stated the official decision of the Sixth Congress of the U’wa Association, January 19-26, 2003.

Given that ECOPETROL will continue with seismic exploration activities in U’wa territory, we see the need to reactivate the May 1997 lawsuit against the Colombian Government before the Inter-American Commission of Human rights of the O.A.S. We also denounce and reject the offers of projects that ECOPETROL is giving to some communities as mechanisms and strategies of division to debilitate the U’wa resistance.

Today, like yesterday, the U’wa ask for Colombians and people all over the World to demand that the President of the Republic of Colombia Alvaro Uribe Velez, and his ministers respect the right to life, culture and the environment in our territory, because ECOPETROL is causing irreparable human and environmental damages to the U’wa community,
Colombia and the World.

ROBERTO AFANADOR COBARIA ­ BERITO KUBARUWA-
U’wa President. Asociación U’wa, Cabildo Mayor

“We are children of the earth, help us defend her.”

SOURCES: Amazonwatch Press Release Resguardo Unido U’wa, Cubará, February 12, 2003


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WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Tell Noranda “NO” to Its Proposed Expansion Into Patagonia

Five years ago, Noranda's former president made a highly influential speech regarding the responsibility of corporations to the communities in where they operate. Five years later, Noranda plans to build a new aluminum smelter in the Aisen Region of Patagonia, southern Chile. The smelter would require the construction of three hydroelectric plants, six dams, and the flooding of over 10,000 hectares of farm land. It would disrupt the livelihoods of local farmers, the habitats of over 167 different species of animals, the billion-dollar fishing industry, ecotourism, and all hopes of future sustainable growth in the region. It will create over 1.5 million tons of waste in the region per year, polluting the Aisen Life Reserve and compromising the health of the local population. Over 1400 problems were found with the initial Environmental Impact Study (EIS), and local groups have started mobilizing against the project through the AIsen Life Reserve Alliance.

Show your support for them by saying "NO" to Alumysa. Sign and send the letter below to Noranda's president.


Derek Pannell
President and Chief Executive Officer
Noranda Inc.
207 Queen’s Quay West, Suite 800
Toronto, ON M5J 1A7


Dear Mr. Panell:


We are writing you to express our extreme disappointment at Noranda’s proposed aluminum smelter in the Aysén region of Chile, known to be one of the three least contaminated areas on the planet.


We condemn the fact that this project is going ahead despite a long list of expected negative outcomes and significant opposition by over 20 environmental, community and law organizations. To these voices of
opposition, we add our own here in Canada.

We object to the proposed venture, because it will not only be of little benefit to the local economy, it will actually substantially undermine it. What’s more, it will be highly detrimental to the environment, to the social fabric of the community and to the health of the local people in Aysén.

We are sure you appreciate that an EIS is not a mere formality. Rather, it is a tool by which companies, governments, and communities can identify likely consequences of projects and the possible means of mitigating substantial negative consequences. However, an EIS is also used to determine whether or not a project should actually proceed. Socially responsible corporations recognize that not proceeding with a project is an option. In our view, this is such a case.

Five years ago your predecessor, Courtney Pratt, made an influential speech to the Canadian Club about corporate social responsibility. In it the argued that companies have a responsibility to key stakeholders, such as employees and NGOs, and to the people of the communities where it operates. This approach places the overall well-being of people and their communities ahead of raw profit.


While we recognize that Noranda has invested a great deal in preparing for its expansion into southern Chile, we urge you to consider this as an opportunity to demonstrate corporate leadership. We urge you to demonstrate that corporate social responsibility is more than window dressing and forego your plans to go ahead with the Alumysa smelter in Chile.

We shall follow developments with great interest.

Sincerely,

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**Hotspots**

ARGENTINA: Canadian mining company Meridian Gold has applied for permission to create an open-face mine in Patagonia, in the province of Chubut. The Patagonia region extends from the East coast westward to the Andes range and from the Colorado and Limay rivers in the North down to Cape Horn, in southernmost Argentina. The city of Esquel, located seven kilometers (4.4 miles) downstream from the proposed mine, will be affected by the project. Many of the residents are opposing the mine, warning that it is hazardous to public health, it will cause environmental damage to Los Alerces National Park and surrounding water sources, and it will negatively affect the area's tourist industry. On February 6, the Esquel City Council passed bylaws banning cyanide within the city limits, but the mayor reportedly vetoed the bylaws. A non-binding city referendum on whether residents will support or oppose the mine is scheduled for the end of March. The operation would involve dynamiting 42,000 tons of rock daily, grinding 3,000 tons of that rock into powder. Gold would then be leached out of that powder, using dilute sodium cyanide. (CTA/MineWatch Canada, February 17, 2003; Stockwatch, February 14, 2003)

AUSTRALIA: The government of Western Australia is accepting public comment regarding a proposal to use Barrow Island to develop the Gorgon gas field. Energy giants Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell are partners in the proposed Gorgon development. Development on the island would include construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing facility, impacting 300 acres (120 hectares) of land. Barrow Island is a Class A nature reserve containing wildlife that is rare or extinct outside of the island. The energy corporations claim that the island's location, 56 km (35 miles) off the coast of Western Australia and 70 kilometers (44 miles) away from the Gorgon gas field, ideally situated for economically feasible development of the gas field. (Queensland Sunday Mail, February 10, 2003; ABC Natural History, January 1, 2003)

BURMA: On February 14, a US Federal Appeals Court agreed to rehear the case of Doe vs. Unocal before an eleven-judge panel, dismissing the decision of the previous three-judge panel held in September 2002. The previous decision found California-based Unocal aware that the Burmese military used forced labor and violence against villagers in constructing of Unocal's Yadana pipeline- and that Unocal benefited from this violence. However, the court also found Unocal not liable for the abuses, citing that the evidence did not sufficiently show that Unocal corroborated in these abuses. (Associated Press, February 14, 2003; Earth Rights International, February 14, 2003)

COLOMBIA: ChevronTexaco's Colombian subsidiary, Texas Petroleum Company, has come to an agreement with Colombia's nationalized gas firm, Ecopetrol, allowing Ecopetrol to expand its production of natural gas in the northeastern coastal region of Guajira. The agreement, known as the Catalina Project, will allow the two firms to develop an additional
trillion cubic feet of natural gas. ChevronTexaco projects that the gas produced in Guajira will be distributed to the northern and central regions of Colombia and that a proposed pipeline may transport gas into Venezuela. ChevronTexaco and Ecopetrol already produce 80 percent of Colombia's natural gas, producing 500 million cubic feet of gas per day
from an offshore field in Chuchupa and an onshore field in Ballena. The current agreement establishes the basis of natural gas production and distribution in Colombia through 2016. (East Bay Business Times, February 21, 2003; Chevron-Texaco, Febraury 20, 2003)


DENMARK: On February 7, the Bahamas-registered oil tanker Acushnet ran aground four miles (6.4 km) from Denmark's Jutland Peninsula and was successfully freed five days later. The single-hulled Acushnet was transporting 35,000 tons of oil on its way to the United States from Latvia. Though none of the oil may have spilled, some 3,000 tons were
transferred onto a barge, to refloat the tanker. As many as 160,000 vessels sail through the Danish straits annually. The straits are the main sailing route out of the Baltic and into the North Sea. (Reuters, February 12, 2003; Associated Press, February 11, 2004; Associated Press, February 10, 2003)

ECUADOR: The Oleoducto de Crudos Presados (OCP) energy consortium has been given permission to continue construction of its oil pipeline, which halted when the Ecuadorian government found that the operation was not officially authorized by the Environment Ministry. Authorization was restored when OCP agreed to reforest areas leveled during construction, and agreed to clear a river of construction materials. When completed, the pipeline will run through seven nationally protected parks and forest areas, placing indigenous peoples and wildlife at risk. This is of particular concern, since the existing SOTE pipeline is ruptured on a regular basis by natural disasters, such as earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions- as well as by bombings by opposition rebel groups. The oil companies are exploring the region for new oil reserves in indigenous territories of the Achuar, Shuar, Huaorani, Quichua, Shiwiar and Zapara peoples- who oppose oil development on their lands. The pipeline will transport 450,000 barrels per day of heavy crude per day. (Reuters, February 17, 2003; Amazon Watch, January 2003)

In related news:
Argentine oil company CGC has suspended exploratory operations in Ecuador's Block 23 until the Ecuadorian government provides security for its workers. Block 23 consists of land occupied by the indigenous Quichua, Achuar, and Shuar peoples. CGC claims it made agreements with indigenous communities to pay US$1 million in developmental aid. However, an assembly of Quichua community leaders met to clarify that the alleged agreements with CGC were made with individuals- not communities or community leaders. The communities are opposed to the development and continue to resist. The oil company says that it will pull out of the Block entirely unless its safety can be guaranteed by government. CGC's demands for security are in response to the earlier seizing of CGC's consultants. They were later released by members of the Shaim community of the indigenous Achuar people, who would be the first to be impacted by oil development in the Block. (Reuters, February 6, 2003; Pachamama Alliance, February 6, 2003)

NIGERIA: ChevronTexaco and Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. will invest US$4 billion in three Nigerian oil and gas projects. These projects
include the off-shore Agbami oil field, the Escravos Gas Gathering Project, and the Escravos Gas-to-Liquid project. The Agbami field covers 45,000 acres (18,000 hectares), which extend from block 216 to block 217, and, with appraisal drilling producing estimates of potentially one billion barrels of oil equivalent, is one of the largest deep-water oil finds in West Africa to date. ChevronTexaco announced that approximately US$1.2 billion would be invested locally, complying with a Nigerian directive demanding 30 percent local content in Nigerian oil investitures. Famfa Oil Nigeria Ltd will be the local partner in the development of the Agbami field. (Dow Jones, February 17, 2003; This Day (Lagos), February 17, 2003; Oil and Gas News, August 9, 2001)

In related news:
A Shell-owned abandoned wellhead in the southern Nigerian territory of Ogoniland exploded and blew oil, gas, and water hundreds of yards into the air. The cause of the explosion is unknown. Shell's assessment team reported that a gas leak released gas and water horizontally and that most of the spill was contained within the well area. The Movement
for the Survival of the Ogoni People reported that pollution in fields and water sources occurred outside the well site and that people were experiencing respiratory and other health problems after the spill. Shell drilled for oil in Ogoniland from 1958 until 1993, when the indigenous Ogoni protests over oil-revenue distribution and environmental destruction, stemming from the oil drilling, forced Shell to abandon its Ogoniland drilling operations. (This Day, February 21, 2003; News24, February 20, 2003; The Guardian, February 2, 2003; Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation, March 2002)

RUSSIA: A 2,300 mile (3,700 kilometer) Russian oil pipeline project has been proposed by Transneft, Russia's state oil company, and Yukos. The proposal, estimated to cost US$6 billion, calls for the construction of two pipelines to transport oil from Russia's Siberian reserves to energy markets in the East. One pipeline would transport oil from the Siberian refinery in Angarsk to the north-east of China, while the other pipeline would link Angarsk to Nakhodka, on the Sea of Japan. The proposed pipelines would expand Russia's oil export production by 1.4 million barrels-per-day (bpd). The pipeline to Nadhoka would transport 1 million bpd; the pipeline to China, 400,000 bpd. Analysts argue that the high cost of the project must be reflected in the price of the oil transported; the route to China has faced criticism from local environmentalists, because it crosses the Tunkinsky National Park and areas of high earthquake risk. Questions have also been raised regarding responsibility for cleanup if an oil spill occurs. (The New York Times, February 10, 2003; Energy Information Administration, November 2002)

British-based BP Amoco is investing US$6.75 billion in Russian energy firms to boost its oil production by 500,000 barrels per day. BP will merge the assets it owns in the Russian oil company Sidanco with the Russian firm TKN. The new firm will be jointly controlled by BP and TKN, with both firms controlling fifty percent of the new company. The Russian investment firms Alfa Group and Access-Renova, the controlling shareholders of TKN, will receive US$3 billion in cash, and US$1.25 billion worth of shares from BP. (Reuters, February 11, 2003; Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2003)

VENEZUELA: US-based ChevronTexaco and Statoil of Norway have purchased from Venezuela the rights to explore two blocks of the Venezuelan Deltana Platform for natural gas. ChevronTexaco purchased exploratory rights to block 2 for US$19 million, while Statoil purchased rights to block 4 for US$32 million. Venezuela's share of the Deltana platform (located in coastal waters bordering Venezuela, Trinidad, and Tobago) is composed of 5 blocks. Exploratory rights to the other three blocks in the gas field have yet to be sold. Venezuela, with the largest oil reserves in its hemisphere, is expanding its investment in natural gas exploration. The Venezuelan government has estimated that the Deltana Platform will add 38 trillion-cubic-feet (tcf) of natural gas to Venezuela's proven reserves of 147 tcf. Much of the gas from the Deltana Platform will likely be exported to the United States, which is projected to demand an additional 40 tcf of natural gas by the year 2020. (United Press International, February 18, 2003; ChevronTexaco Press Release, February 10, 2003; San Jose Mercury News, February 9, 2003)

UNITED STATES
Montana: The 1998 initiative 137, banning the use of cyanide in all future open-pit mining, will be up for reconsideration. Bill 436, passed by the Senate Natural Resources Committee by a vote of 9-3, will place initiative 137 back on the voter referendum. Senator Debbie Shea, Bill 436 sponsor, said that cyanide leaching technology has advanced since the initiative was originally passed and that the mining industry could never give the public the industry perspective. Initiative 137 was enacted shortly after the repeal of Initiative 125, which had banned companies from contributing money to ballot initiatives. Initiative 137, passed by voters by 52 to 48 percent, prevented mining in the Blackfoot River headwaters. Montana has four major abandoned leach pit mines that will require millions of dollars of state money to be reclaimed. (Associated Press, February 25, 2003; Billing Gazette, February 14, 2003)

New York: Two New York City pension plans, New York City Employees' Retirement System and New York City Teachers' Retirement System, filed a resolution requesting that Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc. explain its involvement with the Indonesian military in connection with security operations surrounding their mines in Papua. The Indonesian military has been cited for committing human rights abuses against the local populations. The pension plans sought to explore the transfer of funds from Freeport to the Indonesian military to determine if the human rights violations were committed on behalf of the corporation. Freeport owns and operates one of the largest gold and copper mines in the world, the Grasberg mine in the Papua region of Indonesia. (Joyo Indonesian News, February 14, 2003)

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VITAL STATISTICS:

ALASKA OIL. MINING and the ENVIRONMENT

Alaska ranks number 4 of the most polluted states in the country, with over 535,000,000 pounds of toxic releases in the year 2000 alone. It's also the only state in the Pacific Northwest to make it into the top 20.
This does not even include oil spills or other accidental hazardous waste discharges that occur often throughout the state. And one mine puts Alaska in the top 5-the Red Dog Mine, which reported having 450,000,000 pounds of toxic releases in 2000.

That's not all. The four biggest polluters in the state of Alaska are all mines. The Red Dog lead and zinc mine near Kotzebue, the Greens Creek silver/gold/zinc/lead mine near Juneau, the Fort Knox gold mine, and the Illinois Creek gold mine near Anchorage reported a total of 533,155,363 pounds of toxic releases in 2000.

In 2000, there were 1,543 oil spills in the state, as reported to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Spills amounted to the release of 145,338 gallons of oil. This averages out to almost 30 oil spills every week, or 4 oil spills a day.

In 2001, one oil spill alone amounted to more than all the reported oil spills in 2000. In October 2001, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS), the 800-mile system that goes from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez, reported that 285,000 gallons were spilled as a result of a rifle bullet that pierced the pipeline. Oil sprayed out about 75 feet from the pipeline at about 120 gallons per minute for 36 hours.

According to a Jan 10, 2002 report by Lois N. Epstein, a senior engineer at Cook Inlet Keeper, there were 43 reported pipeline oil spills at Cook Inlet in 2001 (through Dec. 5). This is up from 14 reported oil spills
in the area in 1996.

Alaska's oil and mining industries get a lot of help from people in high places. As a US Senator, Frank Murkowski pushed for oil drilling in Alaska, particularly opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the oil industry. When Murkowski won the office of governor, he made sure he upheld that commitment to oil and mining, by appointing his own daughter, Lisa, to take his place in the US Senate. It's the first and only instance of a father directly appointing his child to the chamber, and a stark example of what a spokeswoman for the Democratic Party calls "nepotism"-favoritism based on family relationship.


SOURCES: EPA Toxic Release Inventory 2000; Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation Quarterly Report of Oil and Hazardous Substance Resonse January-December; Monitor Publishing 10/28/01; Cook Inlet Keeper SpecialReport "Lurking Below: Oil and Gas Pipeline Problems in the Cook Inlet Watershed" Sept. 2002; Washington Post 12/21/02

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COMMUNITY PIPELINE

CONTACTS:

For more information regarding REDOIL (Resisting Environmental Devastation On Indigenous Lands , contact:

Eyak Preservation Council
P.O. 460
Cordova, Alaska 99574
TEL: +1-907-424-5890
FAX: +1-907-424-5891
EMAIL: eyak at redzone.org
WEBSITE: http://www.redzone.org


Indigenous Mining Campaign Project
Indigenous Environmental Network / Project Underground
1916A Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, California 94704 - USA
TEL: + 1 510-705-8981,
FAX: + 1 510-705-8983
EMAIL: clayton at moles.org
WEBSITES: http://www.ienearth.org
http://www.moles.org


For more information regarding gold mining in Ghana, contact:

Friends of the Earth- Ghana
PMB
GPO
Accra
Ghana
West Africa
TEL: 233-21-225-963
FAX: 233-21-227-993
EMAIL: foeghana at africaonline.com.gh


"International Right to Know: Empowering Communities Through Corporate
Transparency."

This report, put out by a coalition of environmental, development, labor and human rights groups including Earth Rights International, describes
the great need for full disclosure and accountability in the global economy. The report was delivered in Switzerland for the 33rd annual World Economic Forum in January 2003.

Access the report online at:
http://www.earthrights.org/pubs/irtkreport.pdf


Human Rights Watch World Report 2002

The 558-page Human Rights Watch World Report 2003 covers human rights in 58 countries in 2002. This report is Human Rights Watch's thirteenth annual review of human rights practices around the globe. It addresses developments in fifty-eight countries, covering the period from November 2001 through November 2002 reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken by the Human Rights Watch research staff, usually in close partnership with human rights activists in the country in question.

To download a copy or to or a hard copy of this report on-line, visit Human Rights Watch on the web at:

350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor
New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
TEL: +1-212-290-4700
FAX: +1-212-736-1300
EMAIL: hrwnyc at hrw.org
http://www.hrw.org

PUBLICATIONS

First Round Series of Facts Sheets on Alaska

Released by the Indigenous Mining Campaigns Project (IMCP), this series of fact sheets, is the first round to come out regarding the extractive industries in Alaska. The IMCP is a project borne of a partnership between the Indigenous Environmental Network and Project Underground. This round of Thirteen Fact Sheets highlights the companies operating in Alaska that exploit the region's natural resources and general information regarding oil, gas and Alaska. The general fact sheet on Alaska can be found in the vital statistics section of this month's issue of Drillbits and Tailings.

The Facts Sheets will be available on-line soon at http://www.moles.org

For copies of the the fact sheet, contact:

Project Underground
info at moles.org


*Disclaimer: Project Underground does not extensively review any of the resources published in Community Pipeline. We only pass on the
information for our readers.
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Drillbits & Tailings is a monthly mining, oil and gas update published by Project Underground online in English and Spanish. Back-issues are archived on our web site <http://www.moles.org>. We welcome submissions or news items, however we cannot offer remuneration.

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Project Underground
Supporting the human rights of communities resisting mining and oil exploitation
1916A Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, CA 94703
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