JUNEAU (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on May 25 proposed restrictions that would block plans for a multibillion-dollar copper and gold mine in Alaska’s salmon-rich Bristol Bay region, the latest in a long-running dispute over efforts by developers to advance the mine.
Critics of the Pebble Mine project called the move an important step in a years-long fight to stop the mine. But John Shively, the CEO of the Pebble Limited Partnership, which is pursuing the mine, called the EPA’s proposal a “political maneuver” and a preemptive effort to veto the project.
The EPA in a statement said the proposal would bar discharges of dredged or fill material into waters within the mine site footprint proposed by the Pebble partnership.
Casey Sixkiller, the EPA’s administrator for the region, said Bristol Bay supports one of the world’s most important salmon fisheries. “Clearly, Bristol Bay and the thousands of people who rely on it deserve the highest level of protection,” Sixkiller said in a statement.
The federal agency said it took into account information that has become available since it previously proposed restricting development in 2014, including new scientific analyses and a mine plan from the Pebble partnership that was submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of a permit application.
The Pebble partnership, owned by Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals, is appealing a 2020 Army Corps decision that denied approval of a key permit for the project in Southwest Alaska.
An Army Corps spokesperson said the agency did not have a timeline for releasing a decision on the company’s appeal.
The fight over the project has spanned several presidential administrations.
The EPA during the Obama administration proposed restrictions on large-scale mining in the region but they were never finalized. There was litigation, and the parties in 2017 during the Trump administration reached a settlement in which the EPA agreed to initiate a process to suggest withdrawing the proposed restrictions. The agreement gave the Pebble partnership time to file a permit application with the Army Corps, which it did.
In 2019, the EPA, under the Trump administration, withdrew the proposed restrictions, removing what it called an “outdated, preemptive proposed veto of the Pebble Mine.” That move was challenged in court.
The EPA, under the Biden administration, last year asked a judge to vacate the withdrawal decision and send the matter back to the agency for further consideration. The request was granted.
The EPA said it will accept public comments on its latest proposal that would block the mine through July 5 and plans to hold public hearings.
Reader Comments(0)