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Alaska's Bristol Bay Region could be devastated by mining, EPA report finds Alaska's Bristol Bay Region could be devastated by mining, EPA report finds
(about 1 hour later)
A US government report indicates a large-scale copper and gold mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay region could have devastating effects on the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery and adversely affect Alaska Natives, whose culture is built around salmon. A large-scale gold and copper mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay region would devastate the world's largest salmon fisheries, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday.
The US Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday released its final assessment of the impact of mining in the Bristol Bay region. Its findings are similar to those of an earlier draft report, concluding that, depending on the size of the mine, up to 94 miles (151 kilometers) of streams would be destroyed in the mere build-out of the project, including losses of between 5 and 22 miles (8 and 35 kilometers) of streams known to provide salmon spawning and rearing habitat. Up to 5,350 acres (2,165 hectares) of wetlands, ponds and lakes also would be lost due to the mine footprint. The EPA report on Pebble Mine was the agency's final word on the potential risks to wildlife and traditional lifestyles of native Alaskans of siting one of North America's largest mines in the remote and pristine region, said Dennis McLerran, regional administrator for EPA Region 10.
The battle over the proposed Pebble Mine has been waged far outside the state's borders, with environmental activists like actor Robert Redford opposing development. Multinational jewelers have said they won't use minerals mined from the Alaska prospect, and pension funds from California and New York City pressured London-based Rio Tinto, a major shareholder of mine owner Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., to divest last year. "Our report concludes that large-scale mining poses risks to salmon and the tribal communities that have depended on them for thousands of years.” 
The Bristol Bay watershed produces about 46 percent of the world's wild sockeye salmon, and salmon are key to the way of life for two groups of Alaska Natives living in the region, Yup'ik Eskimos and the Dena'ina. The report said the response of Native cultures to any mining impacts was unclear, though it said it could involve more than the need to compensate for lost food and include some degree of cultural disruption. Opponents and supporters of the Pebble Bay mine agreed the report would very likely damn the project – although EPA officials said it would not immediately trigger any action.
EPA initiated the review process in response to a request in 2010 from tribes and others in the region concerned about the impact of the proposed Pebble Mine on Bristol Bay fisheries. The report, however, is not meant to be about a single project. The footprint of the mine alone would affect up to 94 miles of streams, in the most ambitious version of the project, and up to 5,300 acres of wetlands, lakes and ponds.
"Our report concludes that large-scale mining poses risks to salmon and the tribal communities that have depended on them for thousands of years. The assessment is a technical resource for governments, tribes and the public as we consider how to address the challenges of large-scale mining and ecological protection in the Bristol Bay watershed," EPA regional administrator Dennis McLerran said in a statement. It would take 86 miles of road just to establish a transportation corridor, and that would affect 55 other streams which support salmon, the report said.
Some see the mine as a way to provide jobs in the region, but others fear it would disrupt or devastate the local way of life. A citizens' initiative scheduled to appear an August ballot would require legislative approval for any large-scale mine in the region. And those estimates do not take into account the potential consequences of a pipeline pipeline leak or failure of a tailings dam which would have “catastrophic effects” on fisheries, the EPA said.
Supporters of the EPA process hoped it would lead the agency to block or limit the project, while opponents saw it as an example of government overreach and feared it would lead to a pre-emptive veto. Bristol Bay is considered one of the richest fisheries in the world, producing nearly half of the world's sockeye salmon, 23m last year, according to Alaska state figures.
EPA has said its goal with the watershed assessment is to get the science right. In the report, EPA said the assessment will inform possible future government actions. The proposed mine would also contain vast stores of wealth – an estimated 80bn pounds of copper and 107m ounces of gold.
EPA said the report is not an in-depth assessment of a specific mine but a study of the possible impacts of reasonably foreseeable mining activities in the region. The agency said it drew on a preliminary plan published by Northern Dynasty Minerals, currently the sole owner of the project, and consulted with mining experts on reasonable scenarios. The EPA report does on its own trigger any further action from the government.
The president of Northern Dynasty Minerals, in November, said if it appeared EPA was moving to take pre-emptive steps to in any way restrict permitting, the company would probably launch the permitting process on its own without waiting for a new partner. However, the report, which sets out different scenarios for potential accidents at the mine, will guide future decisions.
The Pebble Partnership has called the mine deposit one of the largest of its kind in the world, with the potential of producing 80.6bn pounds (36bn kilograms) of copper, 107.4m ounces (3,044m grams) of gold and 5.6bn pounds (2.54bn kilograms) of molybdenum over decades. Environmental campaigners cheered the report, saying it provided compelling evidence development should be halted.
“The Environmental Protection Agency should act promptly to halt the Pebble Mine proposal,” the National Wildlife Federation's Anchorage attorney, Tony Turrini said in a statement. “It’s clear any short-term gains from large-scale hardrock mining would be significantly outweighed by the permanent damage to over 50 miles of streams and thousands of wetland acres even when running as planned – and a worst-case failure scenario could be catastrophic.”
Pebble Mine is one of the most hotly contested industrial projects under consideration – second perhaps only to the Keystone XL pipeline – with opposition radiating far beyond Alaska.
Robert Redford and other high-profile opponents have urged the EPA for three years to shut down the mine. Jewellry chains have said they will not use gold from the mine.
The opposition has taken a toll. Last year, one of the partners in Pebble Bay pulled out of the project. The remaining sole owner of the project, Northern Dynasty, on Wednesday said EPA's analysis was flawed.
"Publication of the final watershed assessment is really the final chapter in a very sad story," Northern Dynasty President and chief executive Ron Thiessen said in a statement. "We believe EPA set out to do a flawed analysis of the Pebble Project."
Alaska's Republican Senator, Lisa Murkowski, said she believed the EPA report would close the door to development of the Pebble Bay mine.
“EPA’s assessment stops short of prohibiting responsible development in the Bristol Bay watershed, but the agency has strongly implied that this report will be a basis to pre-emptively veto economic opportunities in the region in the future,” Murkowski said in a statement.
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