BBDF Release: Tribes, Commercial Fishers, Conservation Groups Slam Northern Dynasty Minerals & Pebble Limited Partnership Lawsuits Challenging EPA’s Clean Water Act Veto of Pebble Mine
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: March 15, 2024
Press Contact: Grace Nolan, grace@team-arc.com
Tribes, Commercial Fishers, Conservation Groups Slam Northern Dynasty Minerals & Pebble Limited Partnership Lawsuits Challenging EPA’s Clean Water Act Veto of Pebble Mine
(Dillingham, Alaska) — Today, Northern Dynasty Minerals and Pebble Limited Partnership – companies with a proven history of misleading their stakeholders, political manipulation, and misrepresenting the size and scope of their mine in proposals to the Army Corps – filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court of Alaska challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water Act veto of the Pebble Mine. This comes just two months after the Supreme Court refused to consider the State of Alaska’s original jurisdiction petition challenging the EPA’s 404(c) action. Northern Dynasty Minerals and Pebble Limited Partnership also filed a separate lawsuit in the Federal Court of Claims in Washington, D.C. alleging that EPA’s veto constituted an illegal “taking” of their property.
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 have repeatedly upheld the 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 and Alaskans – 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.
Below are statements from tribal, conservation, and commercial fishing organizations:
“Pebble Limited Partnership is proving yet again just how out of touch with reality they are,” said Delores Larson, Interim Director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay. “This lawsuit filed today in the Alaska District Court disregards the will of Bristol Bay Tribes and residents, Alaskans, commercial fishermen, and all those who have overwhelmingly opposed the Pebble Mine. We are confident the courts will uphold the EPA’s protections and reject Pebble’s attempts to revive a mining project that Alaskans do not support and the science has shown time and time again would be devastating for the waters that support salmon habitat and our way of life. Our lawmakers must step up and take action to permanently protect Bristol Bay – our future depends on it.”
“We are disappointed, but not surprised, that Pebble Limited Partnership is trying every maneuver to bring back their mining project that Alaska neither wants nor supports,” said Katherine Carscallen, Director of Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay. “Time and time again, it has been proven that the Pebble Mine would irreparably damage the watershed that fishermen and the Tribes in the region rely on to sustain their livelihoods and way of life. The EPA’s protections are grounded in law, science, and overwhelming public support. We are confident that the courts will uphold these protections and protect the world’s greatest salmon fishery from the threat of the Pebble Mine.”
“At this point, PLP is less a mining entity than a litigation vehicle for anti-conservation interests,” said Tim Bristol, Executive Director of SalmonState. “We are confident the court will eventually deny this cynical attempt to circumvent the will of the people and the law and uphold the EPA’s veto of the Pebble Mine. But the reality is, as long as there are people dumb and/or greedy enough to invest in Pebble and that land in Bristol Bay is open for mineral claims staking, the push for Pebble mine will continue. In order to protect Bristol Bay for good, Congress needs to act and act soon.”
“Like a zombie that never dies, the Pebble Limited Partnership's latest lawsuits seek to revive a project opposed by a strong majority of Alaskans, abandoned by its mining partners, and rejected by the last three Presidential administrations,” said Joel Reynolds, Western Director and Senior Attorney for NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "For however long it may take, NRDC remains committed to defending the spectacular Bristol Bay watershed and its people from the toxic Pebble Mine. To the Pebble Partnership and Governor Dunleavy, we will see you in court."
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.
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