February 24, 2026 — The Department of Justice is defending a Biden-era veto of the Pebble mine in Alaska in what may be one of the Trump administration’s only points of agreement with environmental groups.
EPA’s rejection of a Clean Water Act permit for the mine in 2023 was justified and protective of Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, home to a globally significant salmon fishery “that is unrivaled in North America,” DOJ attorneys said in a Feb. 17 legal brief.
In doing so, federal attorneys rebuffed arguments from Pebble Partnership, a company wholly owned by Northern Dynasty that’s suing the U.S. government for blocking its plans to build a massive copper, gold and molybdenum mine. The southwest Alaska open-pit mining project would be developed in the pristine Bristol Bay watershed, prime salmon habitat.