Alaskans for Clean Water - another angle on the fight against the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay

publication date: Jul 14, 2008

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author/source: Alaskans for Clean Water

Alaskans for Clean Water (ACW) is a dedicated to protecting both renewable and non-renewable resource jobs across Alaska. ACW is organized as an Alaskan non-profit 501 (c)(6) corporation founded by Alaskans with a diverse membership including commercial fishermen, natives, lodge owners, and many others.

Their goal is to ensure that the development of one resource does not subjugate other Alaskan resources or destroy a subsistence lifestyle. Tens of thousands of Alaskans have come together to put the Clean Water Initiative on the ballot for August 26, 2008; Alaskans for Clean Water intends to make sure they cross the finish line. 

No longer does Alaska have the luxury of giving open approval to the development of both renewable and non-renewable resources. The problem now is that those resources are competing for survival in the most ecologically significant areas of the state. The unfettered development of one resource has the grave potential of destroying the other resource for generations of Alaskans to come.

As an example of this resource vs. resource conflict, the Bristol Bay watershed is home to the greatest wild salmon run in the world, a renewable natural resource that provides over 12,000 jobs and contributes over a quarter of a billion dollars annually to Alaska’s economy. Much of the economic value of Bristol Bay’s wild salmon is derived from the region’s reputation for pure, clean water. A single release of toxic pollutants into surface or subsurface water could destroy an industry that has taken decades to build and a lifestyle that has existed in Alaska for centuries.

The Clean Water Initiative have been designed to protect Alaska against such a disaster. Years of research and months of careful study have gone into the creation of the dual Clean Water Initiative so that jobs created by both the mining industry and fishing industry could be protected.