EPA proposal could block huge Alaska mine

FE Team | Published: July 21, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

JUNEAU, Alaska, July 20 (AP): The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed restrictions Friday that would essentially block development of a planned massive gold-and-copper mine near the headwaters of a world premier salmon fishery in Alaska.
The announcement came as the EPA was being sued by Pebble Limited Partnership, the group behind the proposed Pebble Mine, and the state of Alaska for allegedly exceeding its authority.
The state and Pebble Partnership, which was created to design, permit and run the mine, argue the EPA should not be able to veto the project before a mine plan is finalized and evaluated through the permitting process. Pebble has asked that a judge block the EPA from taking any additional steps, but no ruling has been made.
EPA regional administrator Dennis McLerran said the science is clear "that mining the Pebble deposit would cause irreversible damage to one of the world's last intact salmon ecosystems. Bristol Bay's exceptional fisheries deserve exceptional protection."
The EPA said as part of its analysis it used plans filed by the mine's owner, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2011. That information indicated the Pebble deposit is likely to involve excavation of the largest open pit ever built in North America, reaching a depth that rivals that of the Grand Canyon at nearly a mile, the EPA said in its report.
The agency looked at three mine scenarios, one based on the worldwide median size deposit that contains copper-, gold- and molybdenum-bearing minerals, which was the smallest scenario analyzed, and two that it said were based on statements made by Northern Dynasty, of mine sizes of 2 billion tons and 6.5 billion tons.
The restrictions proposed by EPA are in line with the estimated impacts of the smallest scenario, which McLerran said is one-eighth the smallest size contemplated in Northern Dynasty's filing. They include loss of at least 5 miles of streams with documented salmon or loss of 1,100 or more acres of wetlands, lakes and ponds that connect to salmon-bearing streams or tributaries.