Anchorage Daily News

The company running the state's largest mine agreed Wednesday to pursue building a 55-mile pipeline costing tens of millions of dollars to route its wastewater to the Chukchi Sea, settling a pollution lawsuit that nearby villagers filed.

The settlement involving the Red Dog zinc and lead mine won't be final for at least 45 days, during which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice will be allowed to weigh in on its terms.

After that, the federal judge in the case will either reject the settlement or enter it.

In their settlement, both sides achieved something they wanted.

The residents of Kivilina in Northwest Alaska got their big goal: Canada-based Teck Cominco has agreed to route its wastewater away from the Wulik River, a source of the village's drinking water, where the treated waste has been going.

Teck Cominco said the 55-mile pipeline will cost less than $120 million and it will carry the mine's wastewater to the Chukchi.

If the company doesn't build the pipeline, which would have to cross National Park Service land, it has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $8 million to $20 million.

Teck officials said they are glad that the case is settled because it will allow them to continue discharging water from the mine, the world's largest zinc producer.

"To us, this really is a win-win. It addresses the concerns of the folks in Kivalina, and we feel that it will be a beneficial way for us to treat and discharge water," said Jim Kulas, Red Dog's manager of environmental and public affairs.

The lawsuit, filed six years ago by six Kivalina residents, accused the mine of violating its federal water pollution discharge permit 2,600 times since 2002. A trial in federal court was set to begin in May, but it was canceled after the two sides began hashing out the settlement.

If all of the violations had been proven at trial, the company would have had to pay a large fine to the U.S. Treasury, potentially more than $60 million, according to court records and attorneys involved in the case.

By settling the case, Kivalina was able to get a different outcome.

In addition to agreeing to seek federal permission to build the pipeline, Teck agreed to:

• Pay $2 million to the plaintiffs' law firm, the San Francisco-based Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, to cover attorney fees.

• Pay the city of Kivalina $10,000 to install water filtration units in every home, business and public building in the village, and pay the city $50,000 per year to maintain the equipment.

The plaintiffs agreed to:

• Support the permit process for the 55-mile pipeline.

• Not sue Teck for any more violations of its water discharge permit between the date that the settlement is final and the outcome of the proposed pipeline.

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.

ADVERTISEMENT