How much does it cost to set up a non-profit organization to fight mining pollution?
December 10, 2009 by
Filed under pebble mine
Pebble Creek Mine. In one of the drainages of Bristol Bay which is a hugely productive salmon fishing area. It is being headed by a Canadian mining company that is on record to their shareholders stating a few unsavory ideas.
The tailings would be piled up and left there. The tailings would have various heavy metals which would leach out. The proposed dam is supposed to retain that leach water.
Like most any modern low-assay gold mining operation, they’d use cyanide leaching to recovery the gold (like those eastern Nevada open mines). And,of course, cyanide is not good for anyone or anything’s health.
While Bristol Bay is a large body of water and would provide a lot of dilution of any spills, the drainages that the mine is in could definitely be killed off for several years in the event of a spill, accident, or damn failure.
While it is possible to build damns that last 100 years, this wouldn’t be constructed of concrete and steel but of tailings. And Alaska is a pretty seismicall
Not much. When I’ve set up non-profits in Alaska, it is something like $50 or $100 to the Secretary of State to incorporate a non-profit. That’s all you need to do. But if you want to most easily write off your donations and solicit from others, you usually want 501(c)3 fedral designation as a non-profit. Check http://www.irs.gov for the details on that. You can’t lobby politically, but if you orient it as an environmental/educational effort, that is valid.
But I’d also strongly consider looking to join some of the other groups that are fighting the project. Many already have that non-profit status, staff, websites, etc. So you wouldn’t have to duplicate those efforts but could find out what they need doing the most – writing letters, doing research, fundraising, etc.