On December 17, 2024 the Kawerak Board of Directors passed Resolution 2024-23, a resolution in opposition to the development of uranium mining on or near the Boulder Creek area on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska.
A Canadian mining company, Panther Minerals AK is in agreement with the State of Alaska to drill and explore for uranium mining on or near the Boulder Creek-Fireweed area. The Kawerak Board strongly expresses our deep concern for the damaging effects that uranium and its associated contamination has on the waters, lands, air, fish, birds, animals, and plant life, on which humans and non-human relatives rely. Contamination of these resources pose the largest thread to the food security of the residents on our region, 80% of whose diet is comprised primarily of subsistence foods.
Previous tests indicate the Boulder Creek area soils also contain arsenic and molybdenum 2, elements that when dug up and exposed to water, these toxic materials are easily released into the environment, uncontained and highly mobile in water sources causing harm to humans, animals and the environment across a large and difficult to predict area.
Contamination will spread across lands with unique managers, and therefore all land manager decisions should be taken into account in this matter. However the State of Alaska, Panther Mining AK and all related parties have yet to engage the relevant Tribes via formal consultation processes about the proposed mine.
With these conditions, the Kawerak Board of Directors categorically opposes development of a uranium mine on and or near the Boulder Creek area near Elim, or elsewhere on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska, to protect the health of the region’s residents; to protect the food security of the region’s residents; to protect region’s residents from exposure to uranium dust and radon gas; to protect region’s residents from exposure to other radioactive contaminants introduced through uranium mining (exploration and/or development); to protect the region’s ecosystems, watersheds, and non-human residents from unanticipated contaminations. Additionally the Kawerak Board strongly urges the State of Alaska to pause any and all approvals of exploration and/or development of potential uranium mining on the Seward Peninsula; conduct appropriate education and stakeholder analysis, community engagement and seek input from residents in the region in such a way that their input can be substantially taken into consideration ahead of any further movement related to mining. The Board also encourages the State of Alaska, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to enter into Tribal Consultation with impacted Tribal Nations of the Kawerak region, regarding the possible development of the Boulder Creek uranium deposit.
Photo, view of Elim, credit: Kayla Bourdon
To read the full Resolution download it here:
FINAL - R 2024-23 - Uranium - NR
