"The Biden administration’s move to invoke its Clean Water Act authority marks a major blow for the project, which is near the world’s largest sockeye salmon run".
"The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that it would restore protections for Alaska’s Bristol Bay, blocking the construction of a massive and controversial gold mine near the world’s largest sockeye salmon run.
The policy shift, indicated in a court filing Thursday in response to a lawsuit filed by the mine’s opponents, deals a serious blow to a project that has been in the works for more than a decade and would have transformed southwest Alaska’s landscape.
Pebble Limited Partnership, the U.S. subsidiary of Canada’s Northern Dynasty Minerals, argued that its proposed mine had the potential to be one of the most important metal-producing projects of the 21st century.
But a coalition of Alaska Natives, environmentalists, fishing operators and recreational anglers — including some prominent Republicans such as Donald Trump Jr. — countered that it was too risky to start a hard-rock mine at the headwaters of a fishery teeming with sockeye, coho, chum and pink salmon that has provided generations with a vital food source and lured fishing enthusiasts from around the globe."
Dino Grandoni and Joshua Partlow report for the Washington Post September 9, 2021.
SEE ALSO:
"Biden Administration Moves To Protect Key Alaska Watershed" (Reuters)
"EPA Seeks to Protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay From Pebble Mine" (Bloomberg Environment)
"Oil Drilling Bans Advance in House With Climate Change Assault" (Bloomberg)
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