Photo by Elwood Brehmer/Alaska Journal of Commerce The Seward Coal Loading facility.

Photo by Elwood Brehmer/Alaska Journal of Commerce The Seward Coal Loading facility.

Permit to address coal spilled in Resurrection Bay

The Seward Coal Loading Facility has applied for a permit that will cover coal falling into Resurrection Bay.

The permit, which is being reviewed by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, would allow the facility to legally drop coal into a 21-acre area of Resurrection Bay. The plant, operated by Aurora Energy Services for the Alaska Railroad Corporation, sometimes drops coal into the bay during transfer from the storage facility onto a ship.

The company will be required to monitor the accumulation on the sea floor and report it if the accumulation “exceeds a moderate measurable increase,” according to the permit.

The company was the target of a 2009 lawsuit filed by the Anchorage-based Alaska Community Action on Toxics and the national Sierra Club. Initially, the district court ruled that the company’s stormwater runoff permit covered the “incidental coal” being dropped into the bay.

The Ninth Circuit Court later reversed that decision, ruling that the company would have to apply for a pollutant discharge permit to continue to spill coal into the bay. Though the case was sent to the Supreme Court for review, the court demurred, leaving the Seward Coal Loading Facility to go through the process of either putting in spill prevention measures or obtaining a pollutant discharge permit.

The Sierra Club announced Tuesday that it had reached a settlement with Aurora Energy Services and the Alaska Railroad Corporation. The facility will be required to make improvements and fund conservation projects in the Resurrection Bay watershed, which will be carried out by the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust.

Pamela Miller, the executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, said the settlement was a step in the right direction. The company will provide $10,000 to Kachemak Heritage Land Trust for its projects, she said, which the plaintiffs had no say on.

The settlement is a positive step but not everything the facility needs to do, Miller said.

“I think it has taken this lawsuit to get things moving with (Aurora Energy Services),” Miller said. “It’s really too bad that it takes a lawsuit to have those kinds of improvements. I would hope that they would initiate these things on their own and be a good neighbor to the community in Seward.”

Aurora Energy Services is a subsidiary of Usibelli Coal Mine, which operates a mine in Healy. The facility is currently idle, but the company is working on export contracts for 2016, said Lorali Simon, the vice president of external affairs for Usibelli.

Simon said a diver will go down to examine the floor of Resurrection Bay for the monitoring surveys. She said divers have done examinations in the past and not found any coal accumulation.

“A diver goes down there and visually inspects,” Simon said. “From the last dive survey, that’s exactly what (the diver) did. He took some pictures, did a grid across the sea floor and did a report on if he found anything.”

Under the proposed permit, Aurora Energy Services is required to do the survey in the first year of the permit, then once every five years.

If the report shows any increase above the baseline, the company will move into an adaptive management plan. If any survey shows four or more inches of coal coverage over an acre, the company will be required to submit a remediation plan to the Department of Environmental Conservation, Simon said in an email.

Russ Maddox, a Sierra Club volunteer in Seward and a witness in the lawsuit, said although the company has taken positive steps to prevent some of the spillage, the plan to deposit coal on the bottom of the bay is flawed.

“They’re measuring it by what accumulates on the bottom, which is silly, because the tidal movement will certainly affect that,” Maddox said. “We have two major tidal movements that come in and out of here every day.”

The second draft of the permit did include some revisions that Maddox said would help, such as requiring the company to report the sea floor monitoring sooner after the permit goes into effect. Initially, the permit did not require the company to report the sea floor coal levels until four years after the permit was issued; the most recent draft requires reporting after one year.

The company has made some repairs on the facility to help prevent spillage, including the installation of a drip pan beneath the conveyor belt to collect any coal that may fall, Simon said.

Simon said in an email that the company has spent approximately $1 million on upgrading the environmental control systems at the facility and plans to continue improvements in 2016.

Miller said she was glad the company is making adjustments to be a better neighbor to Seward’s citizens. She said she hopes the public does not blame the Sierra Club and the AK Community Action on Toxics for any economic impact from the current closure of the facility.

“I think the shutdown of this facility was certainly not a direct result of our lawsuit by any means, but I think it is an indication of the crash of the global market,” Miller said. “I don’t think the shutdown of that facility was in direct response to our actions. We simply want this facility to be a good neighbor to the people of Seward.”

Public comment on the permit is open until Dec. 21 and can be submitted to the Department of Environmental Conservation office in Anchorage. Mailed comments and requests must be postmarked before the deadline.

 

Reach Elizabeth Earl at elizabeth.earl@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

People carrying flags and signs line the Sterling Highway for a “No Kings” protest in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna ‘No Kings’ protest draws hundreds

The nationwide protest came the same day as a military parade organized at the behest of the Trump administration.

Council member Jordan Chilson speaks during a Soldotna City Council work session in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna council mulls change to meeting time

Meetings would be moved from 6 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. under a resolution set to be considered on June 25.

Mountain View Elementary School is photographed on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Mountain View vandalized by children, police say

Staff who arrived at the school on Monday found significant damage, according to police.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress 4th grade reading scores during a press conference on Jan. 31, 2025. Alaska is highlighted in yellow, while Mississippi is in red. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy vetoes education funding to $500 BSA increase

Per-student funding was increased by $700 in an education bill passed by the Alaska Legislature in May.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Job Center is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on April 15, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
Minimum wage increases to $13 per hour on July 1

Since 2014, Alaska’s minimum wage has increased from $7.75 to $11.91 through the Alaska Wage and Hour Act.

Leads for the Sterling Safety Corridor Improvements Project field questions and showcase their “preferred design” during an open house meeting at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Preferred design alternative for Sterling Highway safety corridor introduced at town hall

The project is intended to redesign and construct improvements to the highway to reduce the number of fatal and serious collisions.

Alaska State Troopers badge. File photo
Recovered remains confirmed to be missing Texas boaters; fourth set of remains found

Remains were recovered from the vessel sank that in Kachemak Bay last August.

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks during a meeting of the KPBSD Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
KPBSD issues notice of non-retention to pool managers, theater techs and library aides

Those notices were issued due to the ongoing uncertainty in state education funding.

National Guard members put on hazmat suits before entering the simulation area on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Natalie Buttner / Juneau Empire)
National Guard begins exercise in Juneau simulating foreign terrorist attacks

Operation ORCA brings 100 personnel to Juneau, disrupts traffic around Capitol.

Most Read