WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management offered a Right-of-Way (ROW) grant for the construction of a natural gas pipeline and associated fiber optic cable following the signing of the first ever Joint Federal Record of Decision prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash approving the Donlin Gold, LLC (Donlin) mine site in the Kuskokwim River Valley.
Approval of the Donlin Gold Project comes after a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis and extensive public comment and review periods conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) with 11 cooperating agencies including, the BLM, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Agency (PHMSA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR), federally recognized tribes, and Native villages.
"We are proud to execute on President Trump’s vision for One Federal Decision," said Secretary Ryan Zinke. "The Donlin Gold Mine project in Alaska is a great example of cooperation between the Corps and BLM. This important project--which includes stipulations for Alaska Native hiring preference--will bring over 3,000 construction jobs and 1,400 operations jobs to the Yukon- Kuskokwim region of Alaska. It will create good paying jobs to a region of Alaska with historically high unemployment and we look forward to realizing the many opportunities that the mine will bring to the state of Alaska and the American people."
“This joint decision is the first finalized by BLM Alaska since the implementation of the One Federal Decision policy established in Executive Order 13807,” said Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash. “Timely processing of environmental reviews and authorization decisions for proposed major infrastructure are being achieved as a result of cooperative relationships between Federal agencies.”
In order to provide the energy needed to support development of the mine, Donlin will build, operate and maintain a 316-mile, 14-inch diameter natural gas pipeline and associated fiber optic cable from the west side of Cook Inlet to the proposed mine site. The pipeline ROW traverses approximately 96.7 miles and 2,329 acres of BLM-managed lands north and west of the Alaska Range in the Kuskokwim River valley.
“This project supports the administration’s priorities by encouraging environmentally responsible resource development,” said Alaska Bureau of Land Management Acting State Director Karen Mouritsen. “Moreover, it supports our commitment to bring jobs and economic opportunities to the rural communities of the state of Alaska.”
Donlin anticipates maintaining a high local-hire rate at the project site which will generate up to 3,000 jobs during construction and 800 to 1,400 jobs during operation.
The decision documents are available at blm.gov/Alaska.
Source: Department of Interior
