EPA proposes $21,618 penalty over Red Dog Mine spill into Red Dog Creek

A slurry pump failure at the Red Dog mine sent about 1,000 gallons of process water from its tailings impoundment into the Middle Fork of Red Dog Creek in May 2025. Teck Alaska Inc. would pay a civil penalty of $21,618 for the discharge under a settlement the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed on Sept. 21.

The public has until Oct. 21 to comment before the penalty becomes final.

EPA alleges the discharge violated the mine's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, according to the agency's public notice. The mine sits 82 miles northeast of Kotzebue.

The underlying release began at 1:13 a.m. on May 14, 2025. Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation records in the final situation report put the initial estimate at up to 400,000 gallons. Teck later revised that figure down to 170,000 gallons after reviewing piping flowrate data. Up to 1,000 gallons left gravel infrastructure and reached tundra and Red Dog Creek, which was not frozen at the time. Crews vacuumed roughly 9,700 gallons and removed 870 cubic yards of surface material. Lead was the pollutant of most concern. Zinc and cadmium results came in below state cleanup levels. No impacted fish or wildlife were observed.

The state reissued the mine's wastewater permit in April 2026 on a ten-year compliance schedule rather than the usual five. NANA Regional Corporation, which owns the land the mine operates on and receives royalties from it, supported the permit. The Kivalina IRA Council asked the state to deny it until Teck offered concrete milestones and deadlines. No permit changes resulted from the comments, the department's response to comments says.

These records do not document effects on downstream subsistence harvest.

Disclosure: Alaska News editor Cale Green produced a documentary history of the Red Dog mine in 2025, commissioned by NANA Regional Corporation, which is named in this story. It has not been released. This article was drafted from public records by Alaska News and reviewed by editors before this version was published.