/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5fbeb898a65d954f6b8a4ffe/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=4800&cropY1=395&cropY2=3095&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Alaska Mining Project Denied Federal Permit After Bipartisan Pushback")
Topline
The Army Corps of Engineers will not allow a controversial copper and gold mining project in a remote part of Alaska to move forward, it said Wednesday, following dire warnings about ecological damage from a bipartisan chorus that included environmental groups, Republican Senators and even President Donald Trump’s oldest son.
Anglers fish for sockeye salmon along the rapids of the Newwhalen River near Iliamna.
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Key Facts
The Army Corps denied permits for the Pebble Mine on Wednesday over concerns the massive project near western Alaska’s Bristol Bay would violate the Clean Water Act, a spokesperson confirmed to Forbes.
The Pebble Mine project has seesawed through the federal approval process: Barack Obama’s administration blocked the project’s backers from applying for a permit in 2014, but Trump administration officials allowed permitting to move forward, and the Army Corps in July issued an environmental impact statement determining the project wasn’t a major ecological risk in July, but reversed course and raised concerns a month later.
The proposal has drawn scorn from local and national environmental activists and groups representing Alaska Natives, all of whom believe a large-scale mine upstream of Bristol Bay would damage the area’s salmon population.
Some conservative voices have also sounded off about the proposal, including avid fishermen like Donald Trump Jr. and Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and both of the state’s Republican Senators — Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan — opposed permitting.
Crucial Quote
“[The Army Corps] determined that the applicant’s plan for the discharge of fill material does not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines and concluded that the proposed project is contrary to the public interest,” Colonel Damon Delarosa, commander of the Army Corps’ Alaska district, told Forbes in a statement.
Chief Critic
Pebble Partnership, the company seeking to build the mine, called the Army Corps’ rejection “politically driven” and said it plans on appealing the decision. “This is also a lost opportunity for the state’s future economy – especially at a time when Alaska is seeing record job losses from the impacts associated with Covid,” the company wrote.
Key Background
The Trump administration has gradually opened up Alaska’s natural resources to private use, rolling back some of the restrictions enacted under President Obama. His administration is working to sell off oil and gas drilling rights in the environmentally fragile Arctic National Refuge, and federal officials are angling to make logging easier in the state’s Tongass National Forest. Environmental groups have blasted these regulatory rollbacks, but some local politicians and industry groups have applauded the president’s approach on economic grounds.
What To Watch For
President-elect Joe Biden says he would also block the Pebble Mine project, calling it “no place for a mine.” His administration might be tasked with reviewing an appeal from Pebble Partnership.
Further Reading
Army Corps says no to massive gold mine proposed near Bristol Bay in Alaska (Washington Post)
Donald Trump Jr. opposes controversial Alaska mine that could disrupt critical salmon fishery (CNN)
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