Federal agency issues studies of Alaska industrial road plan
Posted August 28, 2019 12:09 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The federal government has released preliminary studies of a proposed industrial road through northern Alaska to a region rich in minerals.
The Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday that the Bureau of Land Management released draft studies Friday that are a prerequisite to construction of the 200-mile (322-kilometre) road.
The bureau says it is analyzing an Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority application for a 50-year right of way.
The state agency says the two-lane road would encourage mineral extraction in the Ambler Mining District, which it calls one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-zinc belts.
Conservation groups including the Wilderness Society and the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group oppose the road.
The environmental law firm Trustees for Alaska calls the project a “state-funded gravel private driveway” for mining interests.
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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com
The Associated Press
