OPINION: A better alternative to the Ambler Road

The Ambler Road is not needed. An alternative exists for mining in Western Alaska that is more economical and produces less damage to the environment.

The proposed Ambler Road would traverse about 200 miles of ice-rich permafrost. Its cost is excessive both in dollars and the irreversible damage to a large wilderness area. The alternative road, or preferably railroad, is only about 50 miles long to the Bering Sea. It would reduce the net road construction by 75%. The amount of open water in the Bering Sea will continue to increase as our climate continues to change.

The development of mining areas in western Alaska by shipping products via the Bering Sea also aids the growth of communities in western Alaska, such as Nome. Please remember that two major cities, San Francisco and New Orleans, were developed from the ocean; their uniqueness was well-established before the overland connection to the rest of the U.S. The Red Dog Mine has proved the concept of shipping via the Bering Sea. Red Dog is the largest mine in Alaska and one of the largest zinc and lead mines in the world; it has no road connection to the rest of Alaska.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the most economical and safest way to handle freight is by water. For overland shipping, rail is best. Trucks use by far the most fuel, and operationally are the most expensive, as well as the most dangerous.

Problems of the proposed road include spawning streams, ice-rich frozen ground, and the exposure of asbestos in the road construction.

Fish: The proposed Ambler Road beheads many spawning streams for salmon and other fish, such as sheefish. The road includes land within the National Park Service Preserve of the Gates of the Arctic National Park. According to the NPS, there are two options: within the Preserve, five bridges and 539 culverts would be needed to convey water across the northern alignment, and two bridges and 317 culverts would be needed for the southern alignment. Considering the entire length of the Ambler Road, the northern alignment would require 29 bridges and 2,903 culverts, and the southern alignment would require 25 bridges and 3,179 culverts. This would result in significant disturbance to salmon. See David Montgomery’s classic book, “King of Fish; the Thousand-Year Run of Salmon,” published in 2003. Montgomery summarizes the loss of salmon in Europe, Scandinavia and the East Coast of North America, even though people knew the value of salmon habitat and tried to protect it.

Ice-rich frozen ground: The road crosses ice-rich permafrost, which contains irregular masses of ice under the surface and occurs along most of the route. As the underground ice melts, it causes problems both for construction and maintenance. The ice is melting now, and with the warming climate, the melting problems will be accelerated. If the road is built, it will require continual maintenance.

The seriousness of this is illustrated by experience with the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. In 1970, Dr. Arthur Lachenbruch of the U.S. Geological Survey published U.S.G.S. Circular 632: “Some Estimates of the Thermal Effects of a Heated Pipeline in Permafrost.” The engineers working on the pipeline understood the consequences of what Lachenbruch published and stopped the construction of the pipeline for two years. During this time, they completely redesigned the project so that 80% of the pipeline was elevated on vertical supports. The original design only called for about 20% to be elevated. (To stop construction on this pipeline was a big deal; environmentalists were blamed for the delay.)

When the original ground cover of permafrost is changed by making a roadway, it also accelerates melting. The late professor Troy Péwé, a permafrost expert, called this “the hot poker effect.”

Asbestos: Asbestos is present along the route and would be disturbed by various construction activities. The best way to handle asbestos is to leave it alone.

If there are mining products that need to be transported from western Alaska, the most economical way is to use the nearby world ocean routes. Water transportation costs far less than overland transportation. Also, the distance from the Ambler region to the ocean is only about 50 miles rather than several hundred miles. The overland route involves construction and continual expensive maintenance and would cause irreversible damage to a valuable wilderness area.

Wilderness has value of its own. States that have wilderness areas are proud of them; an example is Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Indeed, one of Alaska’s treasures is wilderness.

As I have attended hearings, it has been clear that two groups are present. One deals with cash values and talks about the costs of construction, maintenance, and “development.” The other group, which includes most of the native population along the proposed Ambler Road, talks about the values of the land they know. This struggle has gone on since Europeans first contacted people in the Western Hemisphere. Now that we have “developed” much of the land, there is an increasing awareness of values that can only be provided by wilderness. Wilderness areas are priceless.

Carl Benson is an emeritus professor of geophysics at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He lives in Fairbanks.

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