Alaska News

Big turnout in little Sutton over Wishbone Hill coal

According to KTUU-TV, the final public comment hearing for Usibelli's proposed Wishbone Hill coal mine, held by the state Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday evening in Sutton, was crowded.

Alaska Beat suspects that just the number of people who signed up to make a comment puts the hearing high in the running for the largest single-evening gathering in Sutton's history. Around 300 people signed up to voice their opinion to the panel of DNR officials.

As encapsulated by KTUU, supporters and opponents of the controversial plan made by-now familiar appeals for and against the mine.

On the pro side were jobs and a general boost the mine could bring to the local economy, and on the con side were the hazards the mine could pose to local residents and their property values.

Read more, here. And listen to a report from APRN, made prior to the Tuesday hearing, about a call for attendees that reached as far as Anchorage.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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