After a three-year study the Environmental Protection Agency released a report on the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed, saying the large gold-and-copper mine "poses significant risks to the region's thriving sockeye salmon runs and its people," Lisa Demer reports for the Anchorage Daily News. The EPA said "just building the mine would destroy between 24 to 94 miles of
salmon-supporting streams and 1,300 to 5,350 acres of wetlands, ponds
and lakes, depending on the mine's size." (Pebble Science map: the planned mine site)
In October 2011 residents in the region voted to ban large-scale resource extraction that included mining for gold and copper. State officials sued to invalidate the vote. EPA continued to study the area, extending the public comment period to June 30, 2013, with some arguing the mine was the only decent source of income in the area. Overall, there was 1.1 million public comments on the issue, Demer writes.
Dennis McLerran, administrator for EPA's Seattle-based Region 10, told Demer, "There are clear losses of habitat from the mine footprint and from the mining activities themselves. The lost habitat means 'significant risks to fish and wildlife and the cultures that are there'." Northern Dynasty Minerals, the developer, "says the region's mineral deposit is among the largest and richest in the world, with the potential to produce more than 80 billion pounds of copper and 107 million ounces of gold over three decades."
"The political and environmental fights over the proposed mine have raged for years and have led to lawsuits and a series of ballot measures, including one approved for the August primary election that, if voters approve, would give the Legislature final say over any large mine in the Bristol Bay region," Demer writes. "Some multinational jewelers have said they won't use minerals mined from Pebble. Environmental activists, including actor Robert Redford, oppose it. Pension-fund managers from California and New York City are pressuring a Northern Dynasty shareholder, Rio Tinto, to drop the project, too." (Read more)
Dennis McLerran, administrator for EPA's Seattle-based Region 10, told Demer, "There are clear losses of habitat from the mine footprint and from the mining activities themselves. The lost habitat means 'significant risks to fish and wildlife and the cultures that are there'." Northern Dynasty Minerals, the developer, "says the region's mineral deposit is among the largest and richest in the world, with the potential to produce more than 80 billion pounds of copper and 107 million ounces of gold over three decades."
"The political and environmental fights over the proposed mine have raged for years and have led to lawsuits and a series of ballot measures, including one approved for the August primary election that, if voters approve, would give the Legislature final say over any large mine in the Bristol Bay region," Demer writes. "Some multinational jewelers have said they won't use minerals mined from Pebble. Environmental activists, including actor Robert Redford, oppose it. Pension-fund managers from California and New York City are pressuring a Northern Dynasty shareholder, Rio Tinto, to drop the project, too." (Read more)
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