Judge Upholds Army Corps Permit for Contango Ore Gold Project Near Lake Clark

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason concluded that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acted within environmental law when it approved Contango Ore's plan to construct an access road, expanded airstrip and tunnel on the Johnson Tract, a parcel owned by Alaska Native corporation Cook Inlet Region Inc and encircled by Lake Clark National Park. The project aims to extract gold and other minerals, prompting opposition from environmentalists over potential airplane noise, acid drainage, metal leaching and impacts on the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale population.

Gleason found the Corps provided a reasoned basis for defining the action area and determined that additional consultation on beluga whales was not required, rejecting claims that the agency's analysis was arbitrary or capricious. Plaintiffs—including the Center for Biological Diversity, Cook Inletkeeper and Chickaloon Village Traditional Council—asserted violations of the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. The court granted summary judgment to the Corps and Contango's Alaskan subsidiary JT Mining Inc. Cook Inletkeeper has not indicated whether it will appeal, and Contango Ore declined comment.