pebblemine – Fishermens News

Bristol Bay Entities Challenge State of Alaska Pebble Mine Lawsuit

15Nov

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Bristol Bay Entities Challenge State of Alaska Pebble Mine Lawsuit

Two Bristol Bay region entities have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to counter Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act veto of the proposed Pebble mine in Southwest Alaska. “EPA finalized Clean Water Act protections in Bristol Bay with the strong support of the people of our region and across Alaska,” said Russell Nelson, board chair of the Bristol Bay Native Corp. (BBNC), which has offices in Dillingham and Anchorage. The EPA’s work in Bristol Bay, Nelson said, “is grounded in solid science and an important regulatory obligation to protect the invaluable salmon resource that has sustained our people since time immemorial.” He also said in a Nov. 9 statement issued by BBNC and United Tribes of Bristol...

Pebble Permit Legal Battle Rises to U.S. Supreme Court

9Aug

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Pebble Permit Legal Battle Rises to U.S. Supreme Court

State of Alaska officials are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) veto of a Clean Water Act permit needed for construction of the Pebble copper, gold and molybdenum mine on property abutting the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery. The “bill of complaint” filed by the state on July 26 argues that the EPA’s decision violates the state’s right to develop its natural resources for the maximum benefit of its people. “Bureaucrats in Washington D.C. are exercising unbridled and unlawful power to choke off any further discussion on this important decision affecting so many Alaskans,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. “It’s an indefensible and unprecedented power grab that the U.S. Supreme Court should find unlawful,” Alaska Attorney General Treg ...

Northern Dynasty Settles With Disgruntled Shareholders re: Pebble Mine

14Jun

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Northern Dynasty Settles With Disgruntled Shareholders re: Pebble Mine

Northern Dynasty Minerals, the Canadian mining firm backing the proposed Pebble Mine in Southwestern Alaska, has reached a nearly $6.4 million settlement, through mediation, with a group of investors disgruntled about information they received on the project. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York noted that the law favors settlement, particularly in class actions and other complex cases because they tie up substantial judicial resources, use up the parties’ time and money, and, in such cases, litigation resolution is usually significantly delayed. This past Jan. 30, after over a dozen years of administrative review, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) vetoed the proposed mine to protect the over $2 billion in annual revenue from the Bristol Bay wild s...

Biden Salutes Defense of Bristol Bay Salmon Fishery

17May

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Biden Salutes Defense of Bristol Bay Salmon Fishery

President Joe Biden celebrated his administration’s defense of the Bristol Bay watershed and other environmental achievements during a mid-May gathering at the White House’s Rose Garden with Alaska guests including tribal leaders and conservationists. “Bristol Bay is an extraordinary place, unlike anywhere in the world,” Biden said. “Six rivers meet there, traveling through 40,000 miles of tundra, wetlands and lakes, collecting freshwater and salmon along the way … making this the largest sockeye salmon fishery on all the earth.” The president spoke also of a number of other conservation achievements in ceremonies in the Rose Garden on May 11, while concentrating on the importance of the Southwest Alaska watershed where millions of sockeye salmon are harvested every summer by commercia...

Pebble Mine Decision: Litigation Likely to Follow Final Determination

7Dec

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Pebble Mine Decision: Litigation Likely to Follow Final Determination

A final determination on the future of a proposed copper, gold and molybdenum mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed could be handed down in February by the Environmental Protection Agency, but more litigation and possible deadline extensions could follow. Still, the announcement in early December by Casey Sixkiller, Regional 10 administrator for the EPA, that he had transmitted to the agency’s headquarters a Recommended Determination to prohibit and restrict use of certain waters in the watershed for certain discharges of dredged or fill materials from the mine got plenty of attention. Advocates for the Canadian-owned mine, a subsidiary of the diversified global mining group Hunter Dickenson in Vancouver, British Columbia, cried foul while opponents of the project hailed the possibil...

Congressional Report: Pebble Mine Owners Used ‘Bait And Switch’ Tactics

2Nov

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Congressional Report: Pebble Mine Owners Used ‘Bait And Switch’ Tactics

A new congressional report uses internal documents from the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) to demonstrate a sham permitting scheme designed to evade regulations and develop an open pit mine in the Bristol Bay watershed. The report, released in late October by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-CA, chair of the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, said they sent evidence of false statements to the U.S. Attorney General’s office based on the report’s findings. The report recommends that Congress prevent future attempts to undermine the federal permitting process by ensuring that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies have the authority, training personnel and r...

EPA Extends Its Period of Consideration for Proposed Pebble Mine

14Sep

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EPA Extends Its Period of Consideration for Proposed Pebble Mine

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has extended its consideration period for proposed restrictions on mining at the proposed Pebble mine site in Southwest Alaska, this time until Dec. 2. The comment period was originally set to end in July, then continued to early September. While the comment period is now closed, the EPA is giving itself additional time to consider its decision. The crux of the issue is the potential adverse impact of the mine on the Bristol Bay watershed, home of the world’s largest run of sockeye salmon. The 2022 season was a record breaker for the millions of salmon caught in Bristol Bay, providing thousands of jobs to workers and millions of dollars to the industry and economy of Alaska. The EPA is currently faced with whether to withdraw proposed r...

Alaskans Celebrate 7th Annual Wild Salmon Day

10Aug

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Alaskans Celebrate 7th Annual Wild Salmon Day

Alaskans are celebrating the seventh annual Wild Salmon Day on Aug. 10 in Anchorage to honor shared connections to salmon and the importance of health salmon habitat. Organizers said the free event at Anchorage’s Westchester Lagoon from 6-8 p.m. will feature live music, several vendors, activities for children and the Salmon Hookup food truck, selling menu items made with fresh Cook Inlet sockeye salmon. Participation organizations include Trout Unlimited, SalmonState, the Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG), Citizens Climate Lobby and others. Speakers include Suzanne Little, who oversees Pew’s land conservation issues in Alaska. Her goal is to ensure that local people are heard on land use issues, including policy debates relating to conservation of Alaska lands. T...

EPA’s Revised Proposed Determination Scrutinized

22Jun

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EPA’s Revised Proposed Determination Scrutinized

Proponents and opponents of the proposed Pebble mine project converged on the cities of Dillingham and Newhalen, and virtually in Southwest Alaska this past week to testify on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s revised proposed determination regarding a Clean Water Act permit, which they see as a long term way to stop construction of the mine. Their testimony came as fishermen and seafood processing workers headed for Bristol Bay to harvest and process the millions of red salmon forecast to return to the Bay in 2022. Several dozen opponents of the large-scale copper, gold and molybdenum mine turned out at the Dillingham hearing to testify. Mine boosters, including John Shively, chief executive officer of the Pebble Partnership, testified at Newhalen, contending that such ...

Pebble Mine Opponents Fundraise for Politicians Who Also Oppose

20Apr

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Pebble Mine Opponents Fundraise for Politicians Who Also Oppose

Opponents of the proposed Pebble Mine that would be adjacent to the Bristol Bay watershed in Southwest Alaska have embarked on a fundraising effort to support federally elected officials also opposed to the mine’s construction and development. Alaskans for Bristol Bay Action, a 527 (tax exempt) political organization, said in mid-April that it anticipated having $600,000 in cash to report for its first fundraising quarter of 2022. Former Alaska State Senate President Rick Halford, a senior advisor to Alaskans for Bristol Bay Action, said the early fundraising was a testament to how significant each federal candidate’s position on Bristol Bay would be in the months ahead. “We fully intend to leverage these resources to support champions who are fighting to end the threat of ...