Anglo American’s Bristol Bay Controversy: Wildlife vs. Mineral Riches

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Cynthia Carroll, dubbed Cyanide Cynthia by critics, sees Pebble as a chance to prove that Anglo can be "sensitive to the environment" and help the community. | photograph by Chris Floyd

Myrtle, like many people in Iliamna and the neighboring villages, once worked in nearby Bristol Bay, netting salmon for canneries, but as farmed salmon became more plentiful, the prices paid to Bristol Bay fishermen plummeted from $2 per pound in the 1980s to as little as $0.68 a pound today. The only fishermen who have survived are those who were able to invest in ice machines, new boats, and other technology that allow them to market their salmon for higher prices.

Meanwhile, expenses in the community have skyrocketed. "Growing up, we didn't have running water or central heat or electricity," recalls Myrtle. "Now we pay heating bills, water bills, and electricity bills." And like groceries, these services cost more here than nearly anywhere else in the country. INNEC, the local electricity company, charges $0.49 per kilowatt hour, compared to a national average of $0.09, and a gallon of gas costs close to $8. If Pebble were developed, roads would be built to connect Iliamna to the coast, eliminating the need for supplies to be flown in and alleviating some economic pain.

Myrtle says her family has already benefited from exploration work at Pebble. One daughter and two of her three grandchildren with year-round jobs work for the Iliamna Development Corp., which has food-service, payroll, and housekeeping contracts with the partnership. Myrtle also runs a small lodge she rents to Pebble workers.

No one who has been to Iliamna would deny the need for development to stem the exodus of young people and break the cycle of dependence on federal benefits and subsidies. But Pebble foes argue that mining is not the only answer. "We could be doing a lot more with tourism," Hobson says. "There are more people now coming to the area just to see the beauty of it." And with better access to capital, more fishermen could sell fresh salmon directly to high-end restaurants in places like Seattle.

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Alaska has never turned away a mining project. On August 26, Alaskans voted down a clean-water ballot initiative intended to block Pebble, although it did not mention the proposed mine by name. But residents of Bristol Bay -- the community that Carroll has promised to listen to -- voted overwhelmingly in favor of the measure, which would have made it illegal for new mines to discharge toxic waste into salmon-bearing streams or watersheds used for drinking.

"I know we have a lot of work to do, and I accept that," Carroll says. "We're still establishing how we will protect the wildlife and the fisheries. We don't know how big the mine's going to be yet, and we don't know where the tailings pond is going to be. But I'm very optimistic that we can do this in a way that will satisfy all the various concerns and constituencies."

Ironically, a decision to walk away from Pebble could still prove to be a win for the company. Anglo has other rich copper operations, including one that's now being expanded in Chile, and Pebble's research and exploration expenses of as much as $450 million could be written off as a cost of doing business. The big plus would be to Anglo's reputation -- and that could pay off the next time Anglo sets out to build a large new mine anywhere in the world. As Carroll said at a Business for Social Responsibility conference in San Francisco last year, "Resources businesses must contribute to sustainable development if we are to continue to have access to resources."

Carroll would certainly explain a retreat from Pebble by saying Anglo had determined that the mine could not be developed responsibly -- that the fish do, in fact, come first, as one of the partnership ads states. "I think there's a benefit to taking the high road and saying we really do care and want to do things right," she says of this win-win scenario.

Hello, good citizen Anglo. Good-bye, Cyanide Cynthia.