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Sunday 05.02.2012

Red Dog top toxic polluter

Federal environmental regulators have listed the Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska as the top toxic polluter in the United States.

Federal environmental regulators have listed the Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska as the top toxic polluter in the United States, for the sixth consecutive year, says the Arctic Sounder.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a national ranking of toxic
emissions that Alaska also maintained its status as the state producing the largest amount of toxic emissions to air, land or water.



The ranking, published Wednesday, is largely due to the Red Dog Mine’s routine disposal of hundreds of millions of pounds of waste rock.

Mined waste rock, which accounts for 90 per cent of Alaska’s toxic releases, is regulated to prevent toxic metals from leaching into the environment, according to state officials.

Waste rock from the mine is stored in stockpiles or behind tailings dams.

Claims that Red Dog’s waste rock isn’t harmful are disputed by some environmen-
talists. Waste rock has the potential to leach toxic materials.

Red Dog also discharged thousands of pounds of lead and zinc into the air in 2005, according to EPA figures. The agency relies on data that is roughly 1-1/2 years old for its annual toxic emissions ranking.

In 2005, Red Dog produced nearly 500 million pounds of toxic materials, primarily
heavy metals contained in waste rock. Of that total, EPA said, 320,000 pounds of methanol, lead and zinc were discharged into the air as “fugitive emissions,” releases not confined to a stack, duct or vent.