Where we are at: In May, the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Water (ADEC) re-approved a key certificate for Donlin.

What has happened so far: Donlin has been seeking approval to develop and operate an open-pit, hard-rock goldmine in the Kuskokwim watershed since 2012. That year, Donlin submitted a 404 permit application with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Before issuing the permit, the USACE had to complete an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) which it released in 2018.

Following the release of the EIS, Donlin requested that ADEC issue a certificate stating that the mine will comply with the state water quality standards. This certification is called a "Certificate of Reasonable Assurance" and is required under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act for a 404 permit.

The same year, ADEC issued the certificate with 11 conditions.

Following the issuance of the Certificate, in 2018 the USACE and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued Donlin a 404 permit. The permit is based in part on the Certificate of Reasonable Assurance.

After the Certificate of Reasonable Assurance was issued, Earthjustice, a non-profit organization, submitted a request for an informal review of the Certifucate on behalf of the Orutsararmiut Native Council (ONC) and six other Alaska Native Tribes and organizations. In 2019, ADEC re-issued the Certificate after reviewing it. The ONC coalition requested another informal review, and in 2020 ADEC re-affirmed the Certificate.

In 2020, Earthjustice submitted a request for a formal review (an adjudicatory hearing) which was approved. In 2021, Judge Sullivan issued a non-binding recommendation that the Certificate of Reasonable Assurance be rescinded. In his ruling, Judge Sullivan stated that there can be no reasonable assurance that the project will comply with the state's water quality standards [we will explore this ruling in more details in another post].

Judge Sullivan's ruling was a recommendation and ADEC was not obliged to follow it.

What's next? Earthjustice and ONC have 30 days to appeal ADEC's decision (end of June 2021).