A suction dredge permit off Nome is open for public comment through Aug. 18

Alaskans have until Aug. 18 to comment on a suction dredging application in the waters off Nome. Carl Fowler and Phillip Diaz have applied to dredge in the Norton Sound Public Recreation Area, with the work running from whenever a permit is issued through the end of 2026.

The proposed operation is a modest one by Nome standards: a single diver-operated dredge on a 30-by-13-foot boat with an 8-inch intake, working up to eight hours a day in water as deep as 50 feet, out of Nome harbor, with an average of six workers over a May-to-October season. The applicants filed under the state's general permit for medium-size dredges, a step below the Norton Sound large-dredge permit. Their application lists a reclamation plan of "fan tailings," and says they would stay clear of spawning beds and avoid fish and marine life.

Suction dredging for gold is long established off Nome, where small operators have worked the seafloor for years. The state does, at times, reject dredging proposals: it recently denied a separate and much larger project in the district, IPOP LLC's Bonanza Channel project near the village of Solomon, on public trust grounds, citing navigation and Army Corps of Engineers findings on aquatic resources. That decision turned on the specifics of that project, and the state has not tied it to the Fowler-Diaz application.

Written comments on the application go to the state's Fairbanks mine permitting office through the end of the comment period.