Mining for Gold Gives Rise to a Permitting Dilemma

ISSUE Must the wastewater discharge from a new gold mine comply with the zero-discharge "new source" performance standard established for new gold mines of this type under § 306 of the Clean Water Act or should the wastewater be considered "fill material" that may be discharged untreated into navigable waters under a § 404 permit? FACTS For almost two decades, Coeur Alaska, Inc., a mining corporation, has been planning to extract gold from the Kensington Gold Mine in southeast Alaska using a frothflotation process. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council along with other conservation groups filed suit in the district court in Alaska, claiming that the permit issued to Coeur Alaska violated § 301(e) and § 306(e) of the Clean Water Act because it did not require Coeur Alaska to comply with the zero-discharge standard for new gold mines.\n This was so even if the material in the discharge included solids that could arguably change the bottom elevation of the waterbody into which it was being discharged, thus triggering a question of § 404 permitting.