Just last month, backers of the Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska insisted that existing federal and state mining pollution laws were plenty strong. The anti-pollution proposition on the August primary election ballot was unnecessary, they said, because mines are already properly disposing of their wastes.

If that's the case, why did Red Dog agree earlier this summer to build a 55-mile pipeline to pump its wastewater to the Chukchi Sea?

Red Dog proposes to build the wastewater pipeline at a cost of as much as $120 million to settle a lawsuit brought by villagers in Kivalina.

The villagers contend the zinc and lead mine violated its federal water pollution discharge permit 2,600 times since 2002. Treated waste from Red Dog eventually goes into the Wulik River, where Kivalina gets its drinking water.

Red Dog owners and supporters campaigned vigorously against Ballot Measure 4 in the primary election. It would have prevented any new, large-scale mining from disposing of mining waste in any way that would harm humans or spawning salmon.

Opponents of Measure 4 argued it could also block the permits of existing mines like Red Dog, as they renew or change their operations. And they said Alaska already has strict anti-pollution rules in place for mines.

Obviously not strict enough.

After years of disposing of the waste in a river that supplies drinking water, Red Dog suddenly agrees to spend millions and millions on a pipeline to dump its wastewater somewhere else.

Red Dog spokesman Jim Kulas characterizes the decision as good for both sides.

"As long as it rains, as long as it snows, Red Dog must treat and discharge water," Kulas said in an interview Tuesday. And the pipeline is a way to dispose of the wastewater in a good way, and at the same time alleviate villagers' concerns, Kulas said.

It leaves the question hanging, how safe was Kivalina's drinking water up til now?

And on a broader scale, are Alaska's anti-pollution laws for mines doing a good enough job of protecting the public?

BOTTOM LINE: Suddenly Red Dog agrees to a wastewater pipeline to the sea. Makes you wonder if Alaskans should have passed Ballot Measure 4.

Alaska Notebook

High gas prices

Alaskans are perplexed about why our gasoline prices have stayed higher than the rest of the country as crude oil prices steadily fall from the stratosphere.

It's market forces we are told. Meaning, gee, nobody can do anything about it. Just get out your wallet and deal with it.

I beg to differ. If the market lets Alaska refiners and gas stations keep prices high, then the market needs a push.

How?

Here's an idea. The state could create a strategic gasoline price reserve.

The state would stockpile gasoline when crude oil prices are low or rising. (If prices are going up, we can easily afford it, since the rising prices fill the state treasury.) When crude oil prices start dropping, the state can stimulate gas price competition by offering gas stations and distributors a discount on supplies from the reserve.

The state might not even need to build storage tanks for all that gasoline. Hire the right financial wizards, and the state might figure out a way to supply our market with cheaper gasoline through futures contracts.

This wouldn't be the first time government messed around with the free market in an important commodity. Government intervenes in the market all the time. For years, government bought up excess supplies of cheese to prop up the price and keep dairy farmers happy. This is just the same idea, in reverse.

I have to admit, it's mighty unlikely the State of Alaska would do such a thing, though.

It would require government to jump into the market on behalf of consumers, rather than the producer of the item in question.

Generally, a small number of producers have a lot more at stake, and a lot more political clout, than the mass of consumers who suffer from the higher price. That's why you see the government prop up dairy prices and push corn-to-ethanol (gotta keep those Iowa farmers happy during the presidential caucuses).

So I guess we Alaskans are stuck waiting for market forces to do their thing and produce some gasoline price competition here.

Meanwhile, I'm going to check out Amazon.com. They sell almost everything. Maybe they've figured out a way to sell me some lower-priced gasoline.