Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Bristol Bay Fishermen Thank USACE for Pebble Mine Permit Decision

November 27, 2020 — In an unexpected turn, the Army Corps of Engineers has denied a Clean Water Act permit for the proposed Pebble Mine, an open-pit copper extraction project located near the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. The Pebble site contains one of the largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits in the world, and its backers have signaled their intention to appeal.

“In its record of decision, USACE determined that the applicant’s plan for the discharge of fill material does not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines and concluded that the proposed project is contrary to the public interest,” the agency’s Alaska District said in a statement.

Pebble Partnership’s share price fell from $0.87 to $0.40 within hours of the announcement. The project’s opponents hailed the decision as a recognition of the Pebble Mine’s risk to the billion-dollar-per-year Bristol Bay fishery.

“A permit denial from the Army Corps is a triumph for the people of Bristol Bay who have fought tirelessly against Pebble mine for well over a decade,” said Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) president and CEO Jason Metrokin. “We thank the Corps for acknowledging this reality in its decision.”

“Sometimes a project is so bad, so indefensible, that the politics fall to the wayside and we get the right decision. That is what happened today,” Tim Bristol, the executive director of SalmonState, which represents Alaska’s salmon fishing industry.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

Pebble Mine Permit Denied – Cantwell Continues Push for Permanent Protections for Critical Watershed

November 25, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA):

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released the following statement after the Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska:

“The science is clear: the Pebble Mine could have destroyed the Bristol Bay ecosystem and the millions of wild salmon that depend on it. So I’m pleased but not surprised the Corps finally denied the permit for this ill-conceived megaproject. I look forward to working with the incoming administration and the Alaska delegation to establish permanent protections for Bristol Bay and promote more sustainable economic opportunities for the local communities living around these irreplaceable lands. Healthy salmon runs are the backbone of our fishing and outdoor economy throughout the region, and we must do everything we can to protect it.”

Today’s decision comes after the Army Corps of Engineers decided in August that the Pebble Mine project could not move forward as proposed due to the substantial adverse environmental impacts the project could have on the Bristol Bay watershed.

Senator Cantwell has been leading the fight to protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay—one of the largest salmon fisheries in the world—and the fishermen and industries that rely on these salmon.  The seafood sector makes up 60 percent of the 30 billion dollar maritime economy in Washington state, which as a whole supports over 146,000 jobs.

Cantwell has been vocal about the devastation that Pebble Mine could bring to the Pacific Northwest, repeatedly criticizing various members of the administration for downplaying the threat of the mine. In September, Cantwell called for a Department of Justice investigation to examine discrepancies between what company executives promoting the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska, said in leaked tapes and how they characterized the project’s scope and plans in legally-binding documents. In October of 2017, Cantwell and other members of the Washington state congressional delegation urged President Trump to listen to Washington fishermen and businesses before removing protections from Bristol Bay. In May 2018, Cantwell called on the Trump administration to hold public meetings in Washington state on the proposal and increase transparency for the permitting process. In July 2019, Cantwell slammed the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw protections for Bristol Bay.

Alaska’s Controversial Pebble Mine Fails to Win Critical Permit, Likely Killing It

November 25, 2020 — The Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday denied a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska, likely dealing a death blow to a long-disputed project that aimed to extract one of the world’s largest deposits of copper and gold ore, but which threatened breeding grounds for salmon in the pristine Bristol Bay region.

The fight over the mine’s fate has raged for more than a decade. The plan was scuttled years ago under the Obama administration, only to find new life under President Trump. But opposition, from Alaska Native American communities, environmentalists and the fishing industry never diminished, and recently even the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., a sportsman who had fished in the region, came out against the project.

On Wednesday, it failed to obtain a critical permit required under the federal Clean Water Act that was considered a must for it to proceed. In a statement, the Army Corps’ Alaska District Commander, Col. Damon Delarosa, said the mine, proposed for a remote tundra region about 200 miles from Anchorage, would be “contrary to the public interest” because “it does not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines.”

Read the full story at The New York Times

ALASKA: Pebble Partnership quietly submits mitigation plan amid political shifts opposing the mine

November 18, 2020 — The day after a record number of Americans voted in the Nov. 3 election, the Pebble Partnership submitted a plan for how it would mitigate damage to wetlands when building the country’s largest open-pit mine, completing one of the final requirements needed before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decides whether or not to issue a federal permit for the project.

Though the permitting process is intended to be science-based and apolitical, candidates for both the presidency and Alaska’s congressional seats addressed a mine that has become controversial as it sits at the headwaters of the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world.

In late August, one month after the Army Corps published the project’s final environmental impact statement, the Army Corps said the project could not be permitted as proposed and gave the Pebble Partnership 90 days to provide a compensatory mitigation plan. Before the company would submit its mitigation plan, undercover recordings would lead to the resignation of the company’s CEO, both Alaska senators would state their clear opposition to the project and then-candidate Joe Biden pledged that his administration would block the project.

Despite the string of public relations setbacks, the company maintains that it will be able to move forward with the project, but with a transition in the executive branch expected to bring tighter environmental regulation, the company faces several potential threats during the home stretch of its federal permitting process.

Read the full story at Alaska’s News Source

Pebble mine submits final report, setting stage for Trump administration decision on permit

November 17, 2020 — The developer behind the proposed Pebble mine on Monday announced that the final report needed to potentially win approval for a key permit has been submitted to federal regulators.

President Donald Trump’s administration could make a decision on whether to permit the copper and gold prospect before he leaves office on Jan. 20, either allowing the controversial project to advance or stopping it. A decision could also come later, under President-elect Joe Biden’s administration.

The mine would be built about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage in the Bristol Bay region.

The so-called mitigation plan from Pebble Limited Partnership is meant to address a requirement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In August, the agency said that Pebble must select lands in the region for protection to offset damage the mine would cause, if it is built.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Environmental group releases more secretly recorded ‘Pebble Tapes’ targeting the executive who remains in charge

October 30, 2020 — An environmental group on Thursday released two additional video recordings of Pebble mine executive Ron Thiessen discussing his political strategy for winning a federal permit for the mine.

The release is a follow-up to the damaging tapes the group released in September that became a flashpoint in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race and led to the downfall of Thiessen’s former colleague from the project, Tom Collier.

The Environmental Investigation Agency said in a written statement that the newly released video recordings, part of the same meetings originally recorded in August and September, highlight Thiessen’s role as head of the project.

The videos also underscore the financial benefit that companies he is involved in will receive if the mine is built, the group said.

Thiessen remains the head of Northern Dynasty Minerals, the Canadian-based parent company of Pebble Limited Partnership that’s seeking to develop the copper and gold prospect in Southwest Alaska. Collier last month resigned from his position as chief executive of Pebble Limited.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Environmental group releases more secretly recorded videos of Pebble Mine executive

October 30, 2020 — Two new secretly recorded videos of Northern Dynasty Minerals CEO Ronald Thiessen discussing the financial aspects of the Pebble Mine project have been revealed by the Environmental Investigation Agency, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group.

In September, the EIA posted a series of videos it surreptitiously recorded of conversations with Thiessen and Pebble Limited Partnership CEO Tom Collier, which led to Collier’s resignation on 23 September.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Election Will Decide Fate of Alaska Gold Mine, Electric Cars

October 29, 2020 — Oil drilling in the Arctic and the Pebble gold mine in Alaska aren’t actually on the ballot — but they might as well be.

The controversial projects are hanging in the balance of the presidential election, with Joe Biden’s vow to scuttle them. And dozens of other oil, gas and mining ventures planned across the U.S. face heightened risk of rejection or longer permitting times as the Democratic nominee focuses on promoting cleaner alternatives.

The threat extends even to some projects that already have federal permits. Lawsuits challenging government approvals create an opening for settlement agreements that result in more analysis and possibly canceled authorizations, said Height Securities LLC analyst Josh Price.

Conversely, Trump’s re-election would pose uncertainty affecting some renewable energy developers that would fare better under Biden, including companies seeking to build multibillion-dollar wind farms off the U.S. coasts.

There’s a “sliding scale of risk,” said Christi Tezak, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners. “Where you arrive on that scale is going to be increasingly influenced by the carbon intensity of the activities you’re engaged in.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

Gross receipts: Fishing takes centerstage in Alaska’s Senate race

October 23, 2020 — Health care was the issue that pushed Dr. Al Gross to challenge Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is running for a second term. But fisheries has been the hot-button issue as this senate race draws to a close.

Gross, from Juneau, has fished his whole life. His mother was the first executive director of the United Fishermen of Alaska.

Sullivan has the backing of the United Fishermen of Alaska in this race, though that declaration came in June, before much of the political fallout that has put Gross within striking distance of the seat. Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers endorsed Sullivan on Oct. 7. Gross is endorsed by the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, which has been an outspoken and vehement critic of the proposed Pebble Mine.

An Oct. 10 debate between the candidates hosted by the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce and ComFish via Zoom saw Pebble Mine rear its head in the first 10 minutes.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Murkowski says she’ll use appropriations to block Alaskan mine

October 19, 2020 — Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued her strongest objection to date against the Pebble Mine project, a proposed mining site of copper, gold and molybdenum near the ecologically sensitive Bristol Bay, pledging to use the federal appropriations process to protect the region.

Speaking virtually at a convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives on Thursday, Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, said she would use spending legislation to protect Bristol Bay, home to the world’s biggest salmon run and one of its largest commercial fisheries. She is also chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“I simply think that this is the wrong mine in the wrong place,” Murkowski said. “We need longer-term protections for the region that can also provide enduring value for Alaskans.”

Murkowski submitted language in the fiscal 2020 Interior-Environment spending bill that directed the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a more rigorous environmental assessment of the project’s risks. “I plan to build on my appropriations language from last year to make sure that the Bristol bay region remains protected,” she said Thursday.

Read the full story at Roll Call