A dispute over access to a mine on the east end of Nome escalated this week after Sitnasuak Native Corporation demanded that Arctic Placer Drilling and Mining stop using a driveway crossing corporation land.
Arctic Placer’s owners say the driveway is within a state highway right of way and that the company holds a valid permit from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Sitnasuak argues that the state lacked the authority to authorize the driveway’s use for private mining activity without the corporation’s permission.
The disagreement intensified Wednesday when a Sitnasuak pickup truck was parked in a driveway to a lot owned by Arctic Placer called Tundra Beach 1. Robert Hafner is one third of Arctic Placer’s ownership and is living with a neurological condition that requires the use of a walker. He said the obstruction prevents him from leaving the mine site.
“I’m blocked in, not out, I’m blocked in,” Hafner said. “I can’t go get social services, I can’t go to the hospital unless I call an ambulance.”
There is enough space between Arctic Placer’s gate and the Sitnasuak truck for Hafner to get by, but he said the gravely surface would be difficult to cross with his walker. At this point, Hafner said leaving the property unencumbered is a matter of principle, and that he won’t leave until the truck is removed.
“I’m gonna sit here a week or two weeks, whatever it takes,” Hafner said. “But I will not leave this mine till I can drive out in a car without being carried out to a cab outside.”
Hafner said he has contacted the Nome Police Department repeatedly about the vehicle. When reached by phone, NPD declined to comment on the case, describing it as an “ongoing issue”. Hafner said Alaska State Troopers declined to intervene since the dispute is within Nome city limits.
Co-owner of Arctic Placer, Kenny Hughes, said he tried to visit Sitnasuak’s office in Nome but nobody was available to speak with him. He was later contacted by the Nome Police Department and informed that he had been trespassed from the Sitnasuak building on Front Street.
On Friday, Sitnasuak erected a wooden fence in the driveway of another Arctic Placer lot to the east.
Cease-and-desist
In a cease-and-desist letter dated July 1, an attorney representing Sitnasuak said the corporation owns the underlying property and that Arctic Placer has repeatedly trespassed on it.
The letter identifies two authorized third-party uses of the property: an easement for Quintillion Subsea Operations’ fiber-optic infrastructure and a right of way for the construction and maintenance of a federal-aid secondary highway.
Sitnasuak contends that any other third-party use requires a corporation-issued permit.
The attorney, Christopher J. Slottee from the Schwabe law firm, wrote that a 2022 driveway permit issued to Arctic Placer by the state was unlawfully approved because the state’s authority is limited to activities necessary for highway purposes. The letter argues that a private driveway used for mining does not serve such a purpose.
Sitnasuak also alleges Arctic Placer has parked equipment and machinery within the right of way. It directed the company to remove all of its property from the corporation’s land and confirm by July 8 that it had stopped using the area.
Hughes disputes Sitnasuak’s interpretation of the right of way.
“It doesn’t matter whether they own the real estate, they only own what’s left after the right of way,” Hughes said.
He said Arctic Placer applied for and received the driveway permit from the state in 2022 and was told no additional authorization was necessary. The DOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sitnasuak’s letter says the corporation repeatedly notified Hughes that the state permit was insufficient, including communications in June. According to the letter, Hughes requested a Sitnasuak land-use permit following a June 12 meeting with Land Manager Charles Ellanna.
Hafner said the application has a $1,000 nonrefundable fee, and doubted his company would receive approval even if it did apply. He likened the nonrefundable application fee to “extortion”.
Ellanna declined to comment when contacted by KNOM, and Sitnasuak’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bigger problem
The central disagreement remains whether the state’s highway right of way allows it to authorize private driveway access across land owned by Alaska Native Corporations like Sitnasuak.
In its cease-and-desist letter, Sitnasuak cited a 2022 Alaska Supreme Court decision involving Ahtna Inc. In that case, the court found that recreational uses exceeded the scope of a highway right of way. Sitnasuak argues the same reasoning limits the state’s ability to authorize Arctic Placer’s mining-related use.
Hughes said the decision does not resolve whether the state can issue driveway permits allowing landowners to reach parcels along a highway. He said the company was considering a legal response but had not retained an attorney at the time.
The July 1 letter from Sitnasuak says it reserves the right to seek an injunction, monetary compensation and attorney’s fees if Arctic Placer continues using the property.
Hafner said Friday he had been in contact with Sitnasuak CEO Charles Fagerstrom and was optimistic that the truck and makeshift wooden fence would be removed. He believed pressure from the corporation's shareholders led Fagerstrom to intervene.
