“Why the governor’s sudden change of heart? Right now the difference of $6 million in state spending could keep the doors on 58 schools open. AIDEA could be funding infrastructure for Alaskans, rather than foreign companies. Many villages in the ill-conceived Ambler road corridor’s region are still without sewer and water. AIDEA’s motto is “investing in Alaskans,” and Gov. Walker should encourage projects that do so.
Instead, the main benefactor of the $3.6 million and the road is Canada’s NovaCopper, whose CEO Rick van Nieuwenhuyse has lobbied hard for the state to build a road 220 miles long, over 15 major rivers, to NovaCopper’s mining claims. NovaCopper wants AIDEA to fund the road, a road AIDEA firmly states will never be open for Alaskans’ public use.
NovaCopper’s CEO has had some tough luck with mining proposals in the past: He led development of the Rock Creek Mine in Nome. The state built a 3-mile “road to resources” for that mine and the city supplied electricity. After being given “expedited review” with no EIS, the mine operated only 2 months before being shut down. The water management system failed and conditions on permits were not met, resulting in one of the biggest Clean Water Act fines ever assessed in the Northwest at the time. The buildings and equipment are currently being dismantled and sold off by Bering Strait Native Corp., which took over reclamation…” read the full article here.