It seems a mighty big mistake to develop an enormous mine at the headwaters of some of the most important salmon runs in the world. But in a climate where it’s political sport to undo any regulations that monied interests find inconvenient — it appears we’re headed in exactly that direction. There is no good news here if you support the fish, fishermen, or the environment in general. Here at Tidal Exchange we know a number of full and part time Alaska residents (admittedly all connected with fisheries) and they are universally opposed to this mine.
This week, the investment group Pebble Limited Partnership applied for their EPA Clean Water permit application. But of course that application hasn’t been made public — this from a group who has complained loudly about a lack of transparency in their permitting process. It’s also not at all surprising that this news was timed to break over the Christmas holidays — when news coverage/readership is at its lowest point of the year.
We will continue to share updates, but for now here’s some coverage links:
Pebble backers hope Trump administration breathes new life into mine project [Alaska News]
Alaska’s Pebble Mine moves closer to fruition as permitting process begins [FOX News]
speak for yourself.
i am from alaska and support the modern and safe pebble mine that will be located 100 miles from bristol bay.
Jess, we are speaking for ourselves, in fact we started a news and analysis website for exactly this purpose. Regarding the mine, with an average average flow rate of 2 MPH that means any pollutants entering the headwaters are in Bristol Bay in ~2 days. As we’ve learned in Washington, the river habitat is the ballgame.