EPA to protect Alaska's Bristol Bay, blocking major gold mine
Source: Washington Post
The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it would restore protections for Alaska’s Bristol Bay, blocking the construction of a massive and controversial gold mine near the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. The policy shift, indicated in a court filing Thursday in response to a lawsuit filed by the mine’s opponents, deals a serious blow to a project that has been in the works for more than a decade and would have transformed southwest Alaska’s landscape.
Pebble Limited Partnership, the U.S. subsidiary of Canada’s Northern Dynasty Minerals, argued its proposed mine had the potential to be one of the most important metal-producing projects of the 21st century. But a coalition of Alaska Natives, environmentalists, fishing operators and recreational anglers — including some prominent Republicans like Donald Trump Jr. — countered that it was too risky to start a hardrock mine at the headwaters of a fishery teeming with sockeye, coho, chum, and pink salmon that has provided generations with a vital food source and lured fishing enthusiasts from around the globe.
In the filing, EPA said it plans to invoke its powers under the Clean Water Act to ensure the region’s waters are not filled in or contaminated by material from the proposed open-pit mining site. “It is essential to the livelihood and the community well-being of many Alaskan tribes. And it is also one of the most productive salmon fisheries in North America,” Radhika Fox, head of the EPA’s Office of Water, said in an interview Thursday.
Bristol Bay, she added, “is a unique resource that needs unique protection.” EPA’s move does not ensure the area’s permanent protection, and could be reversed by a subsequent administration. But coming on the heels of a series of setbacks the project suffered last fall, it could hamper the company’s ability to raise capital going forward.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/09/09/biden-bristol-bay-gold-mine/
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