BBDF Release: Bristol Bay Tribes Respond to Supreme Court Decision to Reject Alaska v. EPA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: January 8, 2024
Press Contact: Grace Nolan, grace@team-arc.com
Bristol Bay Tribes Respond to Supreme Court Decision to Reject Alaska v. EPA
(Anchorage, AK / Washington, DC) – Today, the United States Supreme Court rejected the State of Alaska’s lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water Act veto of the Pebble Mine. Today’s decision means any challenge to EPA’s actions in Bristol Bay must go through the regular federal appeals process.
Bristol Bay Tribes, commercial fishers, and people in the region first asked the EPA to step in and use its authority to veto Pebble Mine more than thirteen years ago, and courts throughout the judiciary have repeatedly upheld EPA’s authority. The EPA’s 404(c) authority is an exceptionally durable tool that the agency has used judiciously – only three times in the last 30 years and 14 times over its 50-year history.
The EPA’s decision to veto the Pebble Mine reflects the will of the overwhelming majority of Bristol Bay residents – whose views the United Tribes of Bristol Bay and Bristol Bay Native Corporation represented in an amicus brief that laid out the legal reasoning for the Supreme Court to reject the State’s lawsuit.
The people of Bristol Bay are steadfast in their commitment to protect the region’s valuable resources, including its world-class salmon runs that have fed the people of the region for millennia and are the foundation of a commercial fishing industry that generates more than $2 billion annually in economic output and supports more than 15,000 jobs.
Bristol Bay Tribes released the following statements in response to the court’s decision:
“Although we are glad to see the Supreme Court refuse to entertain Governor Dunleavy’s frivolous lawsuit challenging the EPA’s Clean Water Act veto of the Pebble Mine, we should have never gotten to this point in the first place,” said Delores Larson, Interim Executive Director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay. “Governor Dunleavy’s lawsuit was – and will continue to be – a massive waste of taxpayer money that only represents the interests of the company behind the Pebble Mine. The Tribes, fishermen, and local communities were just celebrating the EPA’s Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay, just to be thrown back into uncertainty less than a year later. We are tired of being ignored by our elected officials. Our leaders must listen to us and help protect this watershed forever.”
“We are thankful that the Supreme Court refused to take up the State of Alaska’s claims,” said Jason Metrokin, Bristol Bay Native Corporation President & CEO. “EPA’s decision to protect Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine is grounded in decades of science, public support, and legal authority. Nevertheless, we know there is still uncertainty about the watershed's future.
Our elected officials should listen to the majority of Alaskans who want to see Bristol Bay protected and work on legislation for the region.
Additional Information:
The EPA’s Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay span two decades of research, scientific studies, and public engagement processes, making the Pebble Mine proposal the most studied mining proposal in American history.
Bristol Bay and its salmon sustain the cultural and spiritual identity of the Tribes and people of the region, provide more than 50 percent of the world’s wild sockeye salmon, support an economy valued at over $2.2 billion, and employ tens of thousands of people in commercial fishing, hunting and sportfishing, outdoor recreation, and tourism. Recent polling finds strong concern among Alaskan voters for protecting all of Bristol Bay from large-scale mining and strong support for efforts to protect the watershed from large-scale mining permanently.
###