In January 2023, we celebrated the EPA’s prohibition of large-scale mining projects like Pebble in the Bristol Bay watershed. The EPA’s “Final Determination” prevents a large-scale mine from being developed at the Pebble deposit due to the mine’s impacts on Bristol Bay’s people, waters, and wildlife. The protections prohibited or fully restricted mining companies from using waters in Bristol Bay as a disposal site for mining fill materials. They also prohibited future proposals to develop similar mines at the Pebble deposit, ensuring lasting protections. It was a massive win, decades in the making.
Unfortunately, in March 2024, Pebble Limited Partnership (a subsidiary of Northern Dynasty of Canada) went to court to challenge the EPA’s prohibition. The State of Alaska soon followed, filing a separate lawsuit that challenged the EPA’s final determination under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act in April 2024.
In response, Alaska Wildlife Alliance and other Alaskan and national groups, represented by Trustees for Alaska, filed a motion in May to intervene in US District Court to defend the EPA’s decision to stop the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay.
We firmly believe that large-scale mines do not belong in Bristol Bay, and are dedicated to supporting the EPA’s Final Determination and fighting for the salmon, communities, bears, and other wildlife that depend on them.
““We join this lawsuit on behalf of all the wildlife whose habitat and health are threatened by the Pebble mine proposal. It is with respect to all communities in the Bristol Bay region, from Tribes to fishers and the plants and animals around them, that we proudly seek permanent protections for Bristol Bay from mining projects like Pebble.” ”
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency used sound science and its lawful authority to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from mines like Pebble, and it did so to protect salmon and Alaska communities,” said Siobhan McIntyre, staff attorney with Trustees for Alaska. “We intend to defend the EPA’s conclusions and to uplift the voices of Alaska residents who overwhelmingly oppose Pebble and any mine like it at the headwaters of one of the State’s and world’s last thriving salmon runs.”
Tribes and other Bristol Bay groups also filed to intervene on behalf of the EPA, as well as Trout Unlimited. AWA is represented by Trustees for Alaska alongside SalmonState, The Alaska Center, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Alaska Wilderness League, Cook Inletkeeper, Friends of McNeil River, Kachemak Bay Conservation Society, National Parks Conservation Association, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, and Wild Salmon Center in this litigation.
Additionally, Alaska Representative Mary Peltola introduced legislation to protect Bristol Bay in May to codify the EPA’s veto of the proposed Pebble mine or any mine like it in the Bristol Bay region.
