Pebble Mine

The decision doesn't amount to re-authorization of Pebble's permit, according to the Corps, and is separate from the EPA's veto.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will reconsider its decision denying a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine, though it's unclear that the mine could go forward even if the Corps granted its permit.

At the end of last year, before the EPA issued the decision, the Pedro Bay Native Corporation closed a $20 million deal that blocked the Pebble Limited Partnership’s proposed route to transport materials to and from the giant copper and gold deposit.

The EPA has vetoed mining at the Pebble deposit in southwest Alaska, exercising a rarely-used power under the Clean Water Act to ban and restrict the discharge of mining materials in waters around the site.

The EPA says it still has reason to believe that the discharge of materials from the proposed mine could lead to “unacceptable adverse effects on important fishery areas.” But the decision to revise its proposed determination prolongs the veto process.

A U.S. District Court ruling reverses a 2019 decision by the Trump Administration, which withdrew the EPA’s 2014 proposal for protections. This restarts…

The announcement is the latest development in a policy flip-flop between presidential administrations that spans years. If finalized this time, it would provide long-term protections to the Bristol Bay waters.

KDLG spoke with Sen. Lisa Murkowski about permanent protections for Bristol Bay and her stance toward the Biden administration; a federal judge Tuesday…

Murkowski said the best way to ensure long-term protections is for Congress to pass a law. Earlier this year, regional and statewide groups opposed to…

A recent study by the McKinley Research Group estimates that Bristol Bay’s commercial salmon industry generated $2 billion in economic benefit and an…