ENVIRONMENT: Politics, Business Spur Land Swaps to Protect Environment

By Pratap Chatterjee Reprint | | Print |

Pratap Chatterjee

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 16 1996 (IPS) - Framed by white spruce and lodge pine trees, President Bill Clinton announced an agreement to swap the site of the New World gold mine near Yellowstone National Park for other federal land worth 65 million dollars.

Towering behind him was the craggy and majestic backdrop of Baronett Peak, a 3,100-metre mountain in the northeast corner of Yellowstone. Standing next to him at the ceremony earlier this week was singer John Denver and environmental activists from American Rivers and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

The mine, operated by Crown Butte Mines Inc., was opposed by activists concerned about the problems that would be created by the 5.5 million tons of acidic mine waste — known as tailings — that would be generated during its 15-year operating life.

Environmentalists warned that runoff from the mine, just three miles outside of the Yellowstone, could pollute streams in the Wyoming park, threatening animals such as the grizzly bear.

As part of the deal, Crown Butte also agreed to contribute 22.5 million dollars for cleaning up damage from mining activities, most of which occurred before it took control of the site.

The swap represents a major political win for Clinton, as well as a victory for Battle Mountain Gold, the Houston-based company that owns Crown Butte in partnership with Noranda Inc. of Toronto.

Battle Mountain is hurting from a 11.8-million-dollar loss in the first six months of this year, stemming from its international operations. The agreement with Clinton calls on the federal government to find replacement land worth 65 million dollars — the estimated amount of revenues that would have been generated by the mine — that the company could then sell.

The company’s losses this year are largely attributable to major cost increases at the Kori Kollo mine in Bolivia and at the Red Dome and Cindy mines in Australia. (Battle Mountain also controls San Cristobal heap leach mine in the Atacama desert of Chile, the Golden Giant mine in Canada and has an 8.5-per-cent stake in the Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea.)

Indigenous people in the Cochabamba province of Bolivia, the Sole Trade Union Federation of the Peasant Workers, have drafted resolutions stating that they will no longer tolerate the exploitation of their natural resources.

And environmentalists in Papua New Guinea are critical of the Lihir mine because of plans to dump tailings directly into the ocean.

In the United States, Battle Mountain has faced severe opposition from environmental groups such in the state of Washington, where its operation of a gold mine raised concerns about possible cyanide contamination of underground water supplies.

The swap agreement has also reaped major political gains for Clinton.

“President Clinton hit a home run. Today’s action is an example of government being responsive to people and a major victory for the environment,” said Mike Clark, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, an umbrella organization of conservation groups fighting the gold mine.

But some political analysts said that the real purpose of the announcement was to deflect attention from the Republican National Convention in San Diego, thousands of kilometres to the south.

Nevertheless, praise from environmental groups is a scarce commodity these days for the President because many prominent activists, including Friends of Earth founder David Brower, have already announced their plans to vote against Clinton.

“President Clinton has done more to harm the environment than Bush and Reagan did in 12 years,” Brower claimed recently in the Los Angeles Times, citing a number of examples such as Clinton’s campaign for the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the granting of permission for massive new logging in national forests.

Meanwhile another publicity boost for Clinton may be just around the corner. Federal officials are now working hard on another public announcement to prevent logging by Maxxam Corp. in California’s Headwaters forest.

Like the New World gold mine in Yellowstone, Headwaters forest has become a national symbol for activists struggling against big business. Last September hundreds of activists were arrested and thousands more rallied to prevent timber operations which are expected to begin again next month.

The 1,200-hectare, ancient redwood forest is one of the few remaining nesting places that for the marbeled murrelet, a seabird that flies inland for a few weeks every year. The bird will not nest in secondary forests.

Federal and state officials are hoping to offer Maxxam other land of equal value in exchange for the company protecting the the 1,200 hectares and establishing a 1,200-hectare buffer zone. One of the properties proposed for exchange is Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay, site of a military base currently being decommissioned.

Forest activists, such Earth First! members, are extremely suspicious of the Headwaters deal. They argue that protection of 2,400 hectares is insufficient, and they want to know in advance what land would be handed over in exchange.