EPA effectively says no to Alaska's huge Pebble Mine, but the 'epic resource battle' is expected to continue in court

Sockeye salmon spawn. (Photo by Loren Holmes, Anchorage Daily News)

To mine or not to mine? That has been a 20-year question. Now the Environmental Protection Agency has once again "blocked development of the Pebble Mine project in a corner of the Bristol Bay watershed, a vast and pristine swath of southwest Alaska that sustains the greatest sockeye salmon runs on the planet," reports Hal Bernton of The Seattle Times. "A key portion of land surrounding the Pebble deposit [is now] off-limits for use as a disposal site. . . The decision follows years of legal jousting and regulatory twists and turns . . . in what emerged as an epic Alaska resource battle." And it is likely to continue in court.

Seattle Times maps by Mark Nowlin; top one shows disposal restrictions

"This is fantastic news,” Harry Moore, a lifelong Bristol Bay fisher, told Bernton. “Science prevailed. People prevailed and more importantly salmon prevailed.” Bernton notes, "Moore, largely raised in Seattle and residing in Alaska, joined in protests against the mine in a grassroots organizing effort."

Bernton writes, "The Pebble Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of Canada-based Northern Dynasty Ltd., calls the Bristol Bay deposit 'one of the greatest stores of mineral wealth ever discovered,' including gold, copper, silver and molybdenum. . . officials argued the mine could tap into mineral deposits needed for the transition to cleaner forms of energy, boosting the Alaska economy without harming salmon." CEO John Shively said, “This preemptive action against Pebble is not supported legally, technically or environmentally. As such, the next step will likely be to take legal action to fight against this injustice.”

But the Trump administration also rejected the plan, and “It’s hard for me to imagine a court [overturning] that kind of double shot,” said Bob Perciasepe, a former acting EPA administrator in the Obama administration and head of its air and water divisions in the Clinton administration. He told The Washington Post, “The amount of money that the company would have to continue to be able to put forward to keep the thing active seems difficult.”

The EPA based its decision "on a December recommendation from Seattle-based regional administrator Casey Sixkiller," Bernton reports. "The Seattle EPA regional office, in a document detailing the recommendation, stated that the mine discharges would result in losses and changes to 8.5 miles of streams used by salmon and another 91 miles of waterways that support the salmon streams as well as 2,108 acres of wetlands and other waters."