EPA report: Red Dog Mine as major chemical release source
Posted March 9, 2019 10:25 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A new federal report says the Red Dog Mine in northwest Alaska is a major source of chemical releases.
Alaska Public Media reports that state officials say the Environmental Protection Agency report released Tuesday is not an accurate representation of releases.
The EPA’s 2017 Toxics Release Inventory National Analysis includes a look at the EPA’s Region 10, which covers Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
EPA officials say 86 per cent of released chemicals reported in that region were from the Red Dog Mine.
State Department of Environmental Conservation officials say the data doesn’t reflect the exposure risk to the public because the discharges were properly disposed of.
Mine officials say the numbers reported to the EPA come from permitted operations, and that the movement of mined rock heading for the waste facility requires reporting.
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Information from: KSKA-FM, http://www.kska.org
The Associated Press
