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The governor of Alaska is reviving a decades-long fight to build an open pit mine at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed in southwest Alaska. The Pebble Mine would destroy thousands of acres of wetlands and the planet's most productive salmon fishery, causing irreparable damage to the communities that depend on it. The mine is opposed by a consortium of Alaska Native Tribes, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the entire Alaska congressional delegation.
Earlier this year, the EPA vetoed the mine using its authority under the Clean Water Act to prohibit the disposal of mine waste in certain waters within the watershed. Under the governor's direction this summer, the state challenged the EPA veto by taking the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming that the EPA's veto takes state “property without just compensation.” This claim ignores the 2019 unanimous Supreme Court decision that in Alaska, state lands are subject to the regulatory powers of the EPA and other federal authorities.
“While Gov. Dunleavy claims to be representing the interests of Alaskans, he has for years supported the development of the Pebble Mine over the strong objections of Alaskans,” wrote marine ecologist Carl Safina and environmental lawyer Joel Reynolds in a New York Times opinion. “In fact, a recent poll found that 74 percent of Alaska’s voters are still concerned that the EPA’s rejection of the project won’t do enough to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining.”
The authors emphasize that the EPA's actions were fully legal and overwhelmingly supported by Alaskans, and urge Congressional action to permanently protect Bristol Bay from mining threats.
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When we conserve our public lands, we are doing more than protecting their beauty. We protect the places where history was made. We safeguard the air we breathe and the water we drink. We defend the livelihoods of people who depend on these lands and waters as a way of life, like our ranchers, outfitters, guides, and rural and Indigenous communities. We honor the sacred lands that Tribal Nations have stewarded since time immemorial. We make our Nation more resilient to the impacts of climate change.”
