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Veteran's Group Airs Anti-Sullivan Ad

A veteran’s advocacy group has purchased a television ad criticizing Alaska’s Republican Senate candidate for his stance on Pebble Mine.  KDLG’s Chase Cavanaugh has more.

With Democrat Mark Begich and Republican Dan Sullivan having won their parties’ respective primaries for the 2014 US Senate Race, political groups have doubled down on purchasing campaign ads.  One of these is the VoteVets Action Fund, a 400,000 member veteran’s advocacy group that purchased a TV ad for $650,000.  

The spot features Jon Christensen, a Port Heiden commercial fisherman, criticizing Sullivan for his support of Pebble Mine, a proposed copper and gold project west of Nondalton.  Like many opponents of the bill, he worries that any accidental release of mine waste could irreparably damage Bristol Bay fisheries. 

“Dan Sullivan would put my job and thousands of others at risk by allowing this.”

The footage is accompanied by open pit mine explosions, followed by accusations of Sullivan as an outsider allowing a foreign company to build the mine.  

“That may not matter much for someone from Ohio like Dan Sullivan, but it would be a disaster for Alaskan families like mine.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency used its authority under section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to halt development on the mine before the project’s parent company, Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals, applied for a permit.  It recently held public hearings on proposed mining restrictions, and is accepting public comments until September 19th.  

Sullivan is attempting to unseat Democratic Senator Mark Begich in the 2014 general election, which takes place on November 4th.