An Irreplaceable Place : Onto-Epistemological Contestation in the Environmental Impact Assessment Process of the Green Anglo American Sakatti Mine, Arctic Finland

• Published in: Society & Natural Resources
• Main Author: Lassila, Maija M.
• Other Authors: Doctoral Programme in Political, Soci­etal and Regional Change, Global Development Studies, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor and Francis Ltd. 2024
• Subjects: Environmental impact assessment; Environmental accountability; Extractivism; Green mining; Offsetting; Ontology; 5203 Global Development Studies; Arctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/579009

Finland adopted the "green mining" concept to reconcile an increase in mineral extraction with conservation needs. Ongoing academic discussions call attention to the social and political factors supporting or challenging new mining projects in the Global North. Particularly understudied are the struggles over existence and knowledge that emerge during environmental accountability processes. This paper is an ethnographic investigation into the onto-epistemological conflict involving the Anglo American Sakatti mine project in the protected Viiankiaapa mire of the Finnish Arctic. It uses material from interviews and stakeholder meetings to analyze how the company's environmental impact assessment is being challenged and how people affected by mining are articulating their claims against the extractive ontology of replaceability. The findings, with parallels drawn to the Global South, suggest that green mine projects become ontologically conflicted and reveal their inherent fragility when companies increasingly try to minimize impacts and legitimate inevitable harm through offsetting. Peer reviewed