SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Trump's EPA Chooses Foreign Mining Interests Over Critical Alaska Watershed
"If the Trump administration's strategy is to put a foreign mining company first—and America's greatest wild salmon fishery dead last—then sadly it's succeeding"
May 12, 2017
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Donald Trump has shelved a lawsuit against a proposed Canadian gold and copper mine that would endanger Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed, allowing the mining company to revive the controversial Pebble Mine project.
"If the Trump administration's strategy is to put a foreign mining company first--and America's greatest wild salmon fishery dead last--then sadly it's succeeding," wrote the NRDC's (Natural Resources Defense Council) Taryn Kiekow Heimer.
The legal settlement was reached late Thursday, the Washington Post reported, and reverses an Obama-era determination that Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. could not apply to a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for the project because Pebble Mine would cause "significant near- and long-term risk to salmon, wildlife, and Native Alaska cultures" in the region. The EPA's 2014 decision has now been removed from its website.
Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, told the Washington Post that local Alaskans who have spent years opposing the mine "are outraged that this is happening."
"If there's damage to the watershed and the fisheries, then it would be devastating to our identity as indigenous people," Hurley said, telling the Post that locals asked the EPA to take action on the issue. "For the company to paint it as federal intervention is completely misleading. The people of Bristol Bay basically cried out to EPA to help us."
The Washington Post observed that a "coalition of fishing operators, native Alaskans, environmentalists, and local businesses have fought the mine proposal for more than a decade, ever since Northern Dynasty Minerals began exploring for minerals in 2004."
Bristol Bay is a critical wild salmon fishery, providing 46 percent of the world's supply of wild sockeye salmon, according to the NRDC. Its fishery is worth $1.5 billion a year, and it provides habitat for 29 fish species, 40 terrestrial mammal species, and 190 bird species.
Moreover, Indigenous Alaskans have lived in the region for over 4,000 years, and many there continue to live a traditional, subsistence-based lifestyle. "The predominant Alaska Native cultures present in the Bristol Bay watershed--the Yup'ik and Dena'ina--are two of the last intact, sustainable, salmon-based cultures in the world," the NRDC's Heimer noted.
"The proposed Pebble Mine--and its 10 billion tons of mining waste at the headwaters of Bristol Bay--would risk it all," Heimer added.
"EPA Administer Scott Pruitt claims the settlement is about providing Pebble a 'fair process,' but in reality it's putting Pebble Mine first and Bristol Bay second," Heimer wrote. "If he is really serious about 'listening to all voices as this process unfolds,' then it's time to listen to what the people of Alaska and Bristol Bay want. Spoiler alert: they do not want the Pebble Mine. More than 65 percent of Alaskans, 80 percent of Bristol Bay residents and Native communities, and 85 percent of commercial fishermen oppose the mine."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Donald Trump has shelved a lawsuit against a proposed Canadian gold and copper mine that would endanger Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed, allowing the mining company to revive the controversial Pebble Mine project.
"If the Trump administration's strategy is to put a foreign mining company first--and America's greatest wild salmon fishery dead last--then sadly it's succeeding," wrote the NRDC's (Natural Resources Defense Council) Taryn Kiekow Heimer.
The legal settlement was reached late Thursday, the Washington Post reported, and reverses an Obama-era determination that Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. could not apply to a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for the project because Pebble Mine would cause "significant near- and long-term risk to salmon, wildlife, and Native Alaska cultures" in the region. The EPA's 2014 decision has now been removed from its website.
Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, told the Washington Post that local Alaskans who have spent years opposing the mine "are outraged that this is happening."
"If there's damage to the watershed and the fisheries, then it would be devastating to our identity as indigenous people," Hurley said, telling the Post that locals asked the EPA to take action on the issue. "For the company to paint it as federal intervention is completely misleading. The people of Bristol Bay basically cried out to EPA to help us."
The Washington Post observed that a "coalition of fishing operators, native Alaskans, environmentalists, and local businesses have fought the mine proposal for more than a decade, ever since Northern Dynasty Minerals began exploring for minerals in 2004."
Bristol Bay is a critical wild salmon fishery, providing 46 percent of the world's supply of wild sockeye salmon, according to the NRDC. Its fishery is worth $1.5 billion a year, and it provides habitat for 29 fish species, 40 terrestrial mammal species, and 190 bird species.
Moreover, Indigenous Alaskans have lived in the region for over 4,000 years, and many there continue to live a traditional, subsistence-based lifestyle. "The predominant Alaska Native cultures present in the Bristol Bay watershed--the Yup'ik and Dena'ina--are two of the last intact, sustainable, salmon-based cultures in the world," the NRDC's Heimer noted.
"The proposed Pebble Mine--and its 10 billion tons of mining waste at the headwaters of Bristol Bay--would risk it all," Heimer added.
"EPA Administer Scott Pruitt claims the settlement is about providing Pebble a 'fair process,' but in reality it's putting Pebble Mine first and Bristol Bay second," Heimer wrote. "If he is really serious about 'listening to all voices as this process unfolds,' then it's time to listen to what the people of Alaska and Bristol Bay want. Spoiler alert: they do not want the Pebble Mine. More than 65 percent of Alaskans, 80 percent of Bristol Bay residents and Native communities, and 85 percent of commercial fishermen oppose the mine."
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Donald Trump has shelved a lawsuit against a proposed Canadian gold and copper mine that would endanger Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed, allowing the mining company to revive the controversial Pebble Mine project.
"If the Trump administration's strategy is to put a foreign mining company first--and America's greatest wild salmon fishery dead last--then sadly it's succeeding," wrote the NRDC's (Natural Resources Defense Council) Taryn Kiekow Heimer.
The legal settlement was reached late Thursday, the Washington Post reported, and reverses an Obama-era determination that Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. could not apply to a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for the project because Pebble Mine would cause "significant near- and long-term risk to salmon, wildlife, and Native Alaska cultures" in the region. The EPA's 2014 decision has now been removed from its website.
Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, told the Washington Post that local Alaskans who have spent years opposing the mine "are outraged that this is happening."
"If there's damage to the watershed and the fisheries, then it would be devastating to our identity as indigenous people," Hurley said, telling the Post that locals asked the EPA to take action on the issue. "For the company to paint it as federal intervention is completely misleading. The people of Bristol Bay basically cried out to EPA to help us."
The Washington Post observed that a "coalition of fishing operators, native Alaskans, environmentalists, and local businesses have fought the mine proposal for more than a decade, ever since Northern Dynasty Minerals began exploring for minerals in 2004."
Bristol Bay is a critical wild salmon fishery, providing 46 percent of the world's supply of wild sockeye salmon, according to the NRDC. Its fishery is worth $1.5 billion a year, and it provides habitat for 29 fish species, 40 terrestrial mammal species, and 190 bird species.
Moreover, Indigenous Alaskans have lived in the region for over 4,000 years, and many there continue to live a traditional, subsistence-based lifestyle. "The predominant Alaska Native cultures present in the Bristol Bay watershed--the Yup'ik and Dena'ina--are two of the last intact, sustainable, salmon-based cultures in the world," the NRDC's Heimer noted.
"The proposed Pebble Mine--and its 10 billion tons of mining waste at the headwaters of Bristol Bay--would risk it all," Heimer added.
"EPA Administer Scott Pruitt claims the settlement is about providing Pebble a 'fair process,' but in reality it's putting Pebble Mine first and Bristol Bay second," Heimer wrote. "If he is really serious about 'listening to all voices as this process unfolds,' then it's time to listen to what the people of Alaska and Bristol Bay want. Spoiler alert: they do not want the Pebble Mine. More than 65 percent of Alaskans, 80 percent of Bristol Bay residents and Native communities, and 85 percent of commercial fishermen oppose the mine."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.