Saving Seafood

ALASKA: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sees no reason now to extend Pebble comment period

March 21, 2019 — An official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday that the agency has not received any compelling reason to extend the 90-day comment period on a draft environmental review of a major mine project in Southwest Alaska.

Shane McCoy is project manager for the corps’ review of the Pebble Limited Partnership’s permit application. The Pebble partnership wants to develop a gold-and-copper mine near a major salmon fishery in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region.

McCoy told reporters that while 45 days is standard for such reviews, the corps decided 90 days was appropriate for the Pebble project given the nature of the project and level of interest in it.

The corps has received requests to extend the 90-day period and is considering those, but so far it has not received a strong reason for an extension, he said. The corps also has received comments saying 90 days is sufficient, he said.

Critics of the project have criticized the substance of the review and say the process has been rushed. When the draft review was released last month, Pebble partnership CEO Tom Collier said the partnership saw “no significant environmental challenges that would preclude the project from getting a permit.”

McCoy said the draft review is not a rubber stamp of the project. If there’s evidence contrary to what the corps’ draft analysis shows, “absolutely provide it to us and allow us to use that to inform a revision if necessary,” he said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Anchorage Daily News

Alaska’s Pebble Mine Project Review Proceeds Over Governor Walker’s Doubts

July 30, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS, JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proceeding with an environmental review of a proposed copper and gold mine located near a major salmon fishery in Alaska, despite a request from the state’s governor that the review be halted.

Gov. Bill Walker, in a letter co-signed by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott last month, said the company behind the proposed Pebble Mine had yet to show that the project is feasible or realistic. They argued that, at a minimum, a preliminary economic assessment should be conducted to help inform the corps’ work.

But Shane McCoy, the corps’ program manager for the Pebble review, told reporters Thursday that an economic analysis is not required for the corps to do its work.

There are limited situations in which a review would be halted, including cases in which an applicant itself asks to stop, or if an applicant fails to provide the corps requested information, McCoy said. Walker’s request was not one that the corps could grant under its rules, he said.

The Pebble Limited Partnership, which wants to develop the Pebble Mine, has given no indication that it wants to suspend the process, McCoy said.

The corps’ position was explained to Walker directly by the commander of the Alaska district, Col. Michael Brooks, he said. Austin Baird, a spokesman for Walker, confirmed that Brooks and Walker spoke and Brooks indicated that he “would not honor the governor’s request.”

Tom Collier, CEO of the Pebble partnership, last month said the company believes it can “successfully and responsibly” operate the mine. “This is what the Corps will evaluate and we can either meet this expectation or we cannot,” he said in a statement.

Collier called Walker’s request to suspend the review a stall tactic.

The Pebble project is located in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. Bristol Bay produces about half of the world’s sockeye salmon.

Debate over the project has been politically charged, with critics contending it is the wrong place for a mine and supporters urging the project be vetted through the permitting and review process.

In a statement earlier this year, Walker, an independent, said the Bristol Bay region “has sustained generations and must continue to do so in perpetuity.”

Baird said Thursday that Walker “continues to believe that the Bristol Bay watershed is unique” and that the proposed mine “must be held to an extraordinarily high standard.”

Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who chairs the Senate energy committee, has said she expects “a fair, rigorous and transparent process” that will help Alaskans understand “the impacts and risks, as well as the potential benefits associated with this project.”

The Pebble partnership is owned by Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., which has been looking for a partner since Anglo American PLC announced it was pulling out in 2013.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was courted as a potential investor but backed away from the project in May.

The corps has no opinion on the financial status of the Pebble partnership, McCoy said.

This story is by the Associated Press and published by Seafood News. The full story is published here with permission.