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The proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska, which would be one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines, has been effectively vetoed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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The EPA concluded that the mine would have “unacceptable adverse effects” on the region’s fish populations, including the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.
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The EPA’s decision to veto the mine was based on its authority under the Clean Water Act, which allows it to prohibit or restrict projects that would have unacceptable impacts on water quality.
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The decision is a major victory for environmental justice groups and local communities who have long opposed the mine, citing concerns about the damage it would cause to the environment and the communities that rely on it.
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The Pebble Mine has been controversial since it was first proposed more than a decade ago, and the EPA’s decision effectively ends the project’s chances of moving forward.
By Inside Climate News | January 31, 2023
The Environmental Protection Agency announced a move to protect one of the world’s largest salmon runs—in Alaska’s Bristol Bay—by vetoing a controversial plan for a copper and gold mine in the region.
The decision prohibits disposal of mining waste in streams that support the Bristol Bay fishery and aims to prevent “unacceptable adverse effects” from the proposed mine, called the Pebble project, the EPA said in an executive summary of its decision. The agency’s action effectively quashes the mine proposal.
Mining interests have long had their eyes on the remote tundra of Southwest Alaska, which is home to a massive copper, gold and molybdenum deposit about 200 miles from Anchorage. But fishermen, Alaska Native communities and environmental groups for years have voiced opposition to the project…
The Biden administration’s decision finalizes a December recommendation from the EPA and caps a process that started more than a decade ago, when Bristol Bay tribes petitioned the federal government to halt the Pebble project.
Read more from Inside Climate News.
