Project XL

Coeur Alaska, Inc. is planning to build an underground gold mine and an above ground mill and associated works. The existing plan would require a 3 mile pipeline that would discharge effluent into a marine environment. However, their approach has met with opposition by groups concerned with the impact of the effluents on marine fisheries. The XL proposal would shift the discharge point to a local freshwater stream that would not require building the pipeline, but that would impose a more stringent effluent standard for arsenic. In exchange for lessening the discharge requirements for arsenic under the NPDES permit, Coeur would build an advanced wastewater treatment facility not currently required under regulations. In addition, Coeur would build an underground facility to store mine tailings after stabilization in cement.