May 22, 2014 — A group seeking to develop a massive gold-and-copper prospect near the headwaters of a world-premier salmon fishery in Alaska is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for taking steps that could result in development being restricted or prohibited.
The Pebble Limited Partnership alleges in its lawsuit that the EPA exceeded its authority when it initiated the rarely used process under the Clean Water Act after concluding that large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed posed significant risks to salmon. Pebble fears the agency will kill the project before mine plans are finalized or it's evaluated through the permitting process.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in February that the agency started the process because the Bristol Bay fishery "is an extraordinary resource and is worthy of out-of-the-ordinary agency actions to protect it." She also stressed that no final decision had been made.
The Pebble Partnership asserts that a veto of the project would be an "unlawful revocation" of Alaska's right to allow development on state lands. The proposed mine is on state lands.
The EPA has "repeatedly ignored" comments from Pebble, the state and others "about this massive federal overreach," Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier said in a statement. If the EPA ultimately vetoes the project before a development plan is submitted or evaluated through the permitting process, "the precedent established will have significant long-term effects on business investment in this state and throughout the country," he said.
Collier said the group sued to get the agency's attention and "bring some rational perspective back to the U.S. permitting process."
Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News