The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken a significant step that could alter the trajectory of the Pebble mine project, a contentious initiative involving Alaska’s largest known copper and gold deposit.
Under President Donald Trump’s administration, the EPA is reevaluating its previous decisions that sought to block the Pebble mine due to concerns regarding its potential impacts on one of the world’s largest salmon runs.
This reconsideration has occurred after a lawsuit was filed by the Pebble Limited Partnership, the developer behind the project, challenging the EPA’s past actions.
This week, a court document submitted by U.S. Department of Justice lawyers indicated that the agency is open to reassessing the mining project and may be negotiating a deal that could resolve the lawsuit.
The document hints at ongoing discussions and a desire among administration officials to revisit former decisions by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which previously denied the Pebble mine a crucial permit.
Pebble’s chief executive, John Shively, expressed optimism that a settlement could lead to the withdrawal of the EPA’s veto against mining activities in the region where the project is proposed.
Located in the Bristol Bay area, the site of the proposed mine sits in the headwaters of a critical ecosystem sustaining the world’s largest sockeye salmon run.
Reversing the EPA’s veto would mark a significant turnaround for the Pebble project, which appeared stalled following previous government decisions aimed at blocking its development.
However, significant hurdles remain. The Pebble project still struggles with a denial of a crucial wetlands permit by the Army Corps in 2020. Although the Pebble Limited Partnership has appealed this denial, the Army Corps rejected the appeal last year, citing the EPA’s veto as a central reason.
In response to the legal challenges it faced, Pebble initiated lawsuits against both the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers.
As negotiations unfold, a change in the EPA’s position could enable the developers to navigate back to the Army Corps for a reconsideration of their permit application, according to Shively.
The potential for renewed project momentum has positively influenced the stock market, with Northern Dynasty Minerals, the Vancouver-based parent company of Pebble, experiencing a more than 50 percent increase in its stock value recently.
Advocates for the Pebble mine, including Alaska Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy and local Indigenous-owned corporations, argue that the mine could create vital employment opportunities and bring in substantial revenue for both the state and rural communities.
Conversely, there is significant opposition from various stakeholders concerned about the environmental and cultural implications of such development.
The Bristol Bay region is home to a vital sockeye salmon fishery that is essential for subsistence fishermen and contributes over $100 million annually in commercial harvesting.
Opposition to the Pebble mine spans local, statewide, and national levels, drawing support from fishermen, tribal authorities, and environmental organizations.
Alannah Hurley, the executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, vehemently opposes the project, asserting that the evidence consistently shows mining is incompatible with the ecosystems of Bristol Bay.
“This is something we’ve been fighting for decades, and it’s just going to be devastating yet again to be put through the rigamarole of a potential settlement,” Hurley stated, while speaking from her fish camp on Nushagak Bay.
Notably, critics of the project include figures traditionally supportive of resource development, such as Alaska’s two Republican U.S. senators and prominent pundits like Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump Jr., who have raised concerns about the mine’s environmental risks.
In previous years, the push for Pebble mine’s approval seemed more favorable under Trump’s first term, when efforts by the Obama administration to halt the project were overturned.
However, the Army Corps’ denial of a Clean Water Act permit in 2020 followed a considerable backlash from the public, including notable voices from the Republican party, leading to a complex legal battle for the Pebble developers.
In a court filing from late last year, Pebble’s attorneys alleged that political interference influenced the Army Corps’ decision, suggesting that connections to political figures motivated the outcome.
At the beginning of Trump’s second term, lawyers from the Justice Department and Pebble Limited Partnership agreed to pause ongoing litigation while government agency officials analyzed the case.
The EPA has so far not provided substantial public commentary regarding the ongoing negotiations or potential submissions that may be presented for their consideration. Molly Vaseliou, the EPA’s associate administrator for public affairs, noted, “At this time, our understanding is that there may be an updated submission made to EPA for consideration, but there is nothing currently before the agency to that effect.”
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