Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Investors Say No to Pebble Mine, Yes to Bristol Bay—Again

April 7, 2021 — The following was released by the Natural Resources Defense Council:

Fifty investment firms representing more than $105 billion called on EPA and Congress to permanently protect Alaska’s invaluable Bristol Bay from the destructive Pebble Mine.

Led by Trillium Asset Management, investors released a letter urging EPA to “use its authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to immediately restrict mine waste disposal in wetlands, rivers and streams within the Bristol Bay watershed.” The letter also urged Congress to “enact legislation to establish a National Fisheries Area to provide permanent federal protection against large-scale mining within the Bristol Bay watershed.”

The letter echoes the formal requests from United Tribes of Bristol Bay (UTBB), Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay (CFBB), and Representatives Peter DeFazio and Jared Huffman asking EPA to use its Clean Water Act 404(c) authority to protect Bristol Bay from the threat of the proposed Pebble Mine. NRDC also sent a letter to EPA urging permanent protection.

Read the full release here

ALASKA: What does the Dunleavy administration mean for the proposed Pebble Mine?

December 27, 2018 — One of the most controversial issues Alaska’s leaders have ever had to wrestle with is the proposed Pebble Mine. The new governor is no exception.

Officially, Gov. Mike Dunleavy is not taking a position on the mine, unlike his predecessor, Gov. Bill Walker, who opposed it.

“So the Pebble Mine project, just like any other natural resource development project, will be subject to an established permitting process,” Gov. Dunleavy said in an emailed statement. “The outcome of this process will determine if the project meets the standards set forth in law and regulation.”

But the new governor is already making moves that have encouraged the mine’s backers and worried its opponents.

One of those statements was made during Dunleavy’s first major public appearance after being elected governor. He was speaking a mining conference in Anchorage, where he proclaimed that “Alaska is open for business.”

The governor gave a shout out to the Red Dog mine, where all three of his daughters work. He spoke about his roots in the mining community of Scranton, Pa., which he called the “anthracite coal capital of the world.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media