Orutsararmiut Native Council, Chevak Native Village, Native Village of Eek, Native Village of Kwigillingok, and Cook…

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed judgments upholding permits for a natural-gas pipeline right-of-way across state land and for water appropriations supporting the proposed Donlin mine. It held that the governing pipeline and water statutes required review of the permitted activities and their regulated effects, not the downstream effects of mining on private land, and that article VIII of the Alaska Constitution likewise did not require a cumulative analysis of the entire mine. The court explained that cumulative-impact review under article VIII applies to the use and development of state-owned resources, while mining-related impacts are addressed through separate reclamation and pollution-control statutes.