Saving Seafood

Alaska’s Controversial Pebble Mine Was Dead. Not Anymore.

May 28, 2020 — The Bristol Bay region in southwest Alaska is home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run, a resource that brings in $1.5 billion annually and provides a vital food source for thousands of Alaska Native residents who live there.

It’s also home to a vast copper and gold deposit worth an estimated $500 billion, known as the Pebble Deposit. A plan to extract that wealth by building a massive open pit mine at the heart of the environmentally sensitive Bristol Bay watershed has become the environmental fight of the century for Alaska.

FRONTLINE told that story in Alaska Gold, broadcast in 2012, when the mine’s opponents seemed to have won the day.

But the Pebble mine got a new lease on life under the Trump administration, and in late 2017, the Pebble Partnership, the company behind the mine, filed for a permit with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Read the full story at Frontline

ALASKA: Pebble offers mitigation plans while opposition condemns preliminary EIS

February 14, 2020 — One week ago, the Pebble Partnership unveiled a draft plan for mitigating the potential impacts of a proposed copper and gold mine in Southwest Alaska. The company says that just under 5 square miles of wetlands would be affected, with nearly 70% of that land facing irreversible changes. To combat the side effects of opening the mine, Pebble is focusing on three strategic projects related to it’s impact on the region – which is home to the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world.

“In our review of some other projects up here, we looked at creative ways that we could, within the watershed, improve upon upon fish habitat and water resources within the areas that we will affect,” said Mike Heatwole, a spokesperson for the Pebble Partnership.

The three specific areas that Pebble plans to address will be: Improving the water treatment facilities in Newhalen, Nondalton, & Kokhanok- Clearing roughly 7 miles of coastline on the western side of the Cook Inlet- and improving accessibility for over 8.5 miles of salmon habitat to compensate for the streams expected to be affected by the mine.

Days after the publishing of Pebble’s mitigation plans, the preliminary version of a final environmental impact statement drew criticism from multiple groups who stand in opposition to the mine. Many of these organizations feel that the ACOE has rushed the process, ignoring important data and research regarding the impacts that the mine could have on Bristol Bay’s salmon.

Read the full story at KTUU

ALASKA: Pebble’s owner reports growing deficit and doubts about its future. Again.

December 6, 2019 — The company trying to develop the Pebble Mine is going to need a lot more money to keep up the pace.

Northern Dynasty, based in Vancouver, B.C., is the parent company of the Pebble Partnership. It reports losing about $40 million (CA$53 million) in the first nine months of the year.

Its deficit now exceeds $400 million. If the company can’t raise the money to pay its debts when they come due, it may have to “reduce or curtail” its operations “at some point,” the report says.

“As such, there is material uncertainty that raises substantial doubt about the Group’s (Pebble and its parent company’s) ability to continue as a going concern,” the report says.

Northern Dynasty has included nearly identical statements in previous quarterly reports.

Pebble spokesman Mike Heatwole said in an email that Pebble continues to look for a partner and is confident in its ability to continue advancing the project.

This and previous financial statements tell a story that’s much darker than the rosy image Pebble projects in its ad campaign, said Daniel Cheyette, a vice president of Bristol Bay Native Corporation.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Sen. Cantwell presses Army Corps to add Pebble hearings in Washington state

June 1, 2018 — WASHINGTON — Sen. Maria Cantwell wants the Army Corps of Engineers to expand its public meetings discussing the potential scope of Pebble mine to include events in her state, Washington.

Cantwell wrote a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James on Thursday asking for additional meetings in Washington so that her constituents can weigh in on the proposed gold and copper mine planned for the headwaters area of Bristol Bay.

Advocates for blocking the controversial mine plan worry that it could irrevocably damage Bristol Bay salmon spawning waters and the industry that thrives on them. The Pebble Partnership, which is now applying for a permit for the mine, argues that the company can find a way to build the massive mine without damaging the surrounding environment.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News