How many dead lakes Sarah Palin?

Sarah Palin's policies as mayor of Wasilla likely contributed to the death of Lake Lucille and its fish.

But that wasn't the only lovey lake in Alaska to be sentenced to death under Sarah Palin's watch. Juneau Empire reports that

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with Coeur Alaska and the state of Alaska on Monday, meaning tailings mine waste from the Kensington gold mine can be dumped into Lower Slate Lake.

It's the first time in 30 years a U.S. mine will be allowed to transform a natural lake into a tailings pond.

According to the Washington Independent,

At least one voice, however, is joining the mining industry to cheer the decision. Pointing to the 370 local jobs the mine will sustain, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) said yesterday that the ruling is “great news for Alaska.”

Juneau Empire noted:

Gov. Sarah Palin's statement talked about the state's support of Coeur and said the ruling was "a green light for responsible resource development."

Rosehips posted this video about the destruction of the Alaskan lake at CNN's I-Report:



The Washington Independent reported on the dubious US Supreme court decision:

The ruling extends from a 2002 rule change, with which the Bush administration redefined mining debris — even toxic mining debris — as “fill” rather than “waste.” That seemingly subtle change had the wide-sweeping consequence of shifting mine-waste disposal decisions from the Environmental Protection Agency to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — a switch that also helped fuel the popularity of mountaintop mining operations in the Appalachian states in the last decade.

The Obama administration has taken steps in recent weeks to reassert the powers of the EPA to protect waterways surrounding mountaintop sites, but those changes, up to now, are limited to Appalachian projects. Alaskan mines just aren’t subject to the new scrutiny.

That spells bad news for Tongass National Forest’s Lower Slate Lake. In 2005, the Corps had approved permits for the Alaskan gold mine company, Coeur Alaska Inc., to dump 210,00 gallons of waste per day into Lower Slate — waste containing aluminum, copper, lead, and mercury. It was those permits that the Supreme Court upheld 6-3 Monday, overturning an earlier ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The reasoning from the court’s majority goes something like this: Because (1) the dumping is expected to raise the bottom of the lake bed by 50 feet over the lifespan of the mine; (2) waste that raises the bottom elevation of waterways is defined as “fill;” and (3) the Corps has sole jurisdiction to issue permits to dump “fill” — then by the transitive properties of jurisprudence the 2005 permits are legitimate, and the EPA is powerless to step in despite the undisputed environmental damage set to be visited upon the lake.