Irving promises to do mine right or not at all
MINING UPDATE — J.D. Irving President and CEO James Irving addresses a big crowd at the University of Maine Fort Kent Thursday. Irving was an invited guest of the Board of Visitors to give an update on mining in Maine. J.D. Irving is exploring the possibility of mining Bald Mountain, west of Ashland and Portage Lake.
Staff Writer
FORT KENT — Now that the Governor has signed LD 1853 into law another hurdle to mining Bald Mountain, west of Ashland and Portage Lake, has been overcome. LD 1853 makes some significant changes to the regulatory process, but it does not change water quality standards in Maine.
That was just one of many messages delivered by James Irving, president of J.D. Irving Limited, at a forum sponsored by the University of Maine at Fort Kent’s board of visitors on Thursday.
“We have a long-term investment in this state,” Irving told more than 300 people attending the forum in UMFK’s Fox Auditorium. “We want to make sure we are using the best science and technology to do this right.”
Right now J.D. Irving has to wait for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to establish the mining rules (the major change in LD 1853). Those rules have to be completed by January of 2014. Between January 2014 and June 2014 the rules will go back to the legislature for final approval. And finally J.D. Irving will review the project viability based on the rules established and engineering costs before they would begin the proposed the 100-acre mining operation. That means it will be at least three years before any copper, gold or zinc is removed is from Bald Mountain.
Irving, and Anthony Hourihan, J.D. Irving Woodlands director of land development, outlined the history of the project and what it may mean to northern Maine.
Irving estimates his company will spend about $100 million if the Bald Mountain mining operation pans out.
“That capital expenditure is projected to translate into 700 direct and indirect jobs with a $600 million annual payroll and generate $120 million in state and local taxes,” said Hourihan.
In addition, Hourihan said the project would make use of the 200 miles of rail leading to and from Aroostook County, increase business at Maine’s seaports and require 20-megawatts of power that could be provided by biomass plants, like the shuttered plant in Ashland.
Mining Bald Mountain for gold, copper and other minerals is not a new idea. Hourihan said over the past 40 or so years, about $25 million has been spent researching the site. Falling mineral prices put a halt to any development in the mid 1990s, but a significant upturn in gold and other mineral prices has prompted the latest look at mining Bald Mountain.
“We wanted to look at these commodities as a potential economic engine for growth in this part of the state,” said Hourihan.
If all goes according to plan the mine will require five years to build, 20 years of active life and five years to close according to environmental regulations. Part of the changes in mining law in Maine requires the mine owners to establish a fund to cover all the costs of any potential environmental damage. Environmental monitoring will be required for a minimum of 30 years after the mine closes and the DEP has the discretion to add more years to the monitoring requirement.
For the last 20 minutes of the forum at UMFK, the audience was allowed to ask questions and most focused on possible environmental problems posed by mining Bald Mountain.
Irving was adamant his company wanted to do this right and said the simplest test for him would be water quality.
“If I can’t go and drink the water at the end of the pipe coming from the mine, we shouldn’t be doing it,” he said. “We have to be honest about what we are doing [and] we hold ourselves accountable because as far as we are concerned, we are home here.”
Other members of the audience were concerned that the jobs promised with the project would not go to Aroostook County citizens, a notion quickly dispelled by Irving.
“All the skills that we can get here and use here we want,” said Irving. “There may be a specialist who comes from somewhere else, but are these jobs going to local, yes definitely.”
Irving also pointed to the possibility of using the local universities and Northern Maine Community College to train the labor pool.
Other questions posed by the audience didn’t have clear answers. Those will have to wait until the DEP finishes the rule-making process.
Irving officials said they will keep the public informed as the process moves along.
