(CN) — The bell appears to have rung on the final round of a decadelong fight over mining in one of the world’s largest and most pristine salmon fisheries in Alaska, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposing Wednesday to protect Bristol Bay from mining.
Pebble Mine LP had been trying to mine the trove of gold and copper that lie underneath the waters of the southwestern Alaska bay off the coast of the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge for more than a decade.
But Alaskan Native tribes, commercial fishermen and some locals have repeatedly asserted a mine could compromise the world’s largest salmon run and a local $2.2 billion economy that includes commercial fishing, hunting, outdoor recreation, and tourism.
That coalition won an enormous victory Wednesday when the EPA released a proposed determination that brings the agency one step closer to enacting Clean Water Act protections for the entire region — effectively scuttling any plans for mining in the area.
“As stewards of these lands and waters since time immemorial, our people welcome this step towards permanent protections for our waters and way of life,” said Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, in a statement. “Today’s announcement by the EPA is a good start in this effort. It’s clear the science supports the need for our region’s headwaters to be protected from a mine like Pebble’s impacts, at the site and downstream.”
Bristol Bay provides approximately half of the sockeye salmon consumed in the world as one of the most important fisheries economically and ecologically.
“With a predicted record-breaking fishing season kicking off shortly, it couldn’t be more clear what is at stake if Pebble Mine were built: thousands of jobs, a sustainable economy, and an irreplaceable way of life are all on the line,” said Katherine Carscallen, director of Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay.
The move follows through on a promise by President Joe Biden to conserve more of America’s lands and waters, while protecting a larger portion of the nation’s wilderness from natural resource extraction.
“The Bristol Bay watershed is a shining example of how our nation’s waters are essential to healthy communities, vibrant ecosystems, and a thriving economy,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan, in a statement.
Casey Sixkiller, the regional administrator for EPA’s Area 10, which includes Bristol Bay, said a decade's worth of technical research has indicated dredging and discharge material from the proposed mine would harm the fishery.
“Two decades of scientific study show us that mining the Pebble deposit would cause permanent damage to an ecosystem that supports a renewable economic powerhouse and has sustained fishing cultures since time immemorial,” Sixkiller said.
Pebble LP has insisted repeatedly its project would not harm the fishery, saying the mine is 100 miles as a crow flies from Bristol Bay while pointing to an environmental analysis by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2020 that found impacts to salmon in Bristol Bay are not expected to be measurable.
The mine's backer also argues it would create high-paying jobs for rural villages within 20 miles of the project, where economic prospects are few and comparatively bleak. The mine would also generate about $150 million in state taxes, according to the company and its supporters.
Pebble LP did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday morning.
While the environmental community that has been fighting the mine for about 12 years was thrilled with the announcement, they have also been here before. In 2014, the Obama administration introduced a similar proposal but it was never finalized.
At first, the Trump administration cleared the way for the approval of a vital permit, but an unlikely alliance of tribes, environmentalists, fishermen and Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. — an avid outdoorsman — came out in opposition to the project.
Biden made a campaign promise to stop the mine, and if the EPA finalizes the protections lawsuits would likely ensue unless the mining company decides the suits are not worth the cost. Should those lawsuits not be pursued or fail in court, the protections would be permanent.
Follow @@MatthewCRenda
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
