Salmon vs. muskie vs. copper
By Phil Soucy
I would like to compare the resources mentioned above as to usefulness, cost and environmental feasibility.
First of all let’s look at Atlantic salmon and land-locked salmon. Atlantic salmon have been in Maine rivers for 5,000 years or more. In the past 100 years dams have been built for the betterment of mankind. These structures, however, prevented the salmon from spawning, causing a dramatic reduction in salmon population. Mankind then spent millions of dollars to build fishways on these dams in an effort to redeem themselves. However they where not very successful except perhaps for the anointed Veazie Dam Fishway.
Water pollution also did its share in the demise of Atlantic salmon.
Land-locked salmon on the other hand found themselves land locked in Sebago Lake and other unknown Maine lakes after the glacier receded. 110 years ago the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife saw fit to introduce land-locked salmon to other Maine lakes. Unfortunately this destroyed the native togue population. Nevertheless this was a huge success. Six- and 7-pound salmon are currently being caught at the Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby, but not many togue.
Secondly let’s look at muskie. Over 30 years ago muskie were introduced into the St John River cold water fishery watershed. The Province of Quebec took credit for this. However they claimed it was an accident! Thanks to Mother Nature this muskie introduction was a major success, much to the chagrin of the IF&W. We decided to turn these so-called lemons into lemonade and the Fort Kent International Muskie Derby was born. This is proof that muskie can be worth a lot more than lemons at no cost to the state.
Copper is the third asset. Lately I have seen in the news that some politicians want to rejuvenate the Bald Mountain copper mine, about 20 miles due west of Portage Lake. I think it has something to do about an election in November. They claim it would create 350 jobs. However in 15 years they would leave us with a 150-acre copper tailings pond.
This looks pretty economical at first sight. However there is a problem. This tailing pond is right smack dab in the middle of the headwaters of the Fish River chain of lakes and the Aroostook “Salmon” River. Now copper mining tailings produce all kinds of heavy metals. This is because the copper ore is crushed into fine powder. It is then mixed with highly alkaline slurry causing the copper to float, where it is skimmed off the top. This slurry is then recycled — treated and returned to the tailing pond. If I remember right, this alkaline can raise havoc with cold water fish species. Nothing can go wrong there!
Copper tailing, however, if left exposed to sunlight and running water will produce sulfuric acid. That is the same stuff you find in your auto batteries. Not real good for our natural resources. These tailings are then covered with four feet of dirt and water to hopefully keep it from interacting with the sun and fresh water or leaching out to ground level. We are told not to worry but erosion has a way of doing that! Now this copper ore is located on the surface as compared to most copper mines, which are located underground. Copper deposits like this are surrounded or wrapped in a gold-bearing ore called the gossan cap. In this case the gossan ore is ground and spayed with a cyanide liquid. I believe that this is the same good stuff that Hitler used to kill a million people. It is also the same stuff some states use in gas chambers. Nothing to worry about here. I am sure that responsible people can use that stuff safely!
I was propelled into writing this article because of my experience with these three different assets in the past. Not long ago, I volunteered as president of the international corporation called Salen (Salmon enhancement). The purpose was to re-introduce Atlantic salmon into the upper St. John River above Grand Falls, N.B. I use reintroduce because geologists tell us that 5,000 years ago the Grand Falls gorge did not exist — neither did the falls. This Salen project failed because of politics between the two nations. It would have succeeded if Governor Angus King had kept his promise to send a letter of consent as he said he would. However it never happened.
At that time Gov. McKernan appointed me to the Board of Environmental Protection. During my 10-year term, the copper mining explorers where pushing the DEP to finalize the state of Maine Mining Rules, which we did. During this time the St. John Aroostook RC&D had formed the Take Pride In America award-winning Fish River Lakes Water Quality Association. As its president I was concerned about this mining operation in our headwaters. I therefore volunteered to be the point man for the BEP and the mining engineers. I worked closely with Boliden Mining, the most likely company to do the mining at that time. With these people I learned a lot about copper mining and its dangers to the environment.
The price of copper eventually dropped and that was the end of the project. It seems that copper can be mined in the Panama Canal region without any rules to live by according to Boliden Mining, who were willing to do it in Maine anyway had the copper prices not gone south.
After comparing the three assets it’s a no-brainer that copper and salmon are great economic assets. However they have been extremely expensive and damaging to the environment when mankind tries to dictate to Mother Nature how to do her work. The Cost Benefit Ratios have been dismal. Muskie on the other hand have become an extremely good economic asset. The best part however is that it has not and will not cost a single copper penny! (Pardon my pun.)
How is that for a solid Cost Benefit Ratio.
I cannot believe that some Augusta crony capitalist and politicians still want to mine Bald Mountain. I personally do not believe that it can be done safely. Check out Black Hawk mine [aka Kerramerican mine] located next to Second Pond and Carlton Stream in Blue Hill, Maine. They and other companies have been mining copper for 125 years. The 53-acre tailing pond is located adjacent to Second Pond and caused water to back up causing flooding upstream. They were forced to breach the barrier with a 5-foot canal traversing the tailings pond. It is currently emitting heavy metals [sulfuric acid] downstream to First Pond, Salt Pond, Blue Hill Bay and East Penobscot Bay. The state of Maine has sued Black Hawk Mining for environmental damage and won a million-dollar settlement. To this day the associated mining companies involved appear to be suing each other. I retrieved information from the website — technology.infomine.com.
In conclusion a copper tailing pond in a tidal watershed is one thing. However having one in the only cold water fishery watershed in the Eastern United States is another matter. I will put my money on the muskie any time.
Phil Soucy of Fort Kent is a retired Registered Investment Adviser. He is past president of Salen Inc., past president of the Fish River Lakes Water Quality Association and current board of the Fort Kent International Muskie Derby as well as the St. John Aroostook Resource & Development Steering Committee. He served from 1989-99 on Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection.
