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“This is not the place to mine,” he said, praising the area as a sought-after destination for anglers and the basis of the Alaska Native lifestyle, the source of half the world’s sockeye salmon.
President Barack Obama’s administration concluded in 2014, after a three-year scientific review, that the Gravel Mine project could have “catastrophic” effects, including “complete loss of fish habitat due to the removal, dewatering and fragmentation of streams, wetlands.” , and other water sources” in parts of Bristol Bay.
Mr. Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency has issued a resolution proposal that will act as a veto under a provision of the Clean Water Act and effectively ban mining in the area. However, the agency has faced several lawsuits from Pebble Limited Partnership, and the verdict is still not finalized when Mr Trump took office.
In 2019, the Trump administration, which had by then rolled back nearly 100 landscaping projects, completely retracted the Obama-era appointment and denounced it as “outdated”, citing the Pebble Mine company’s lawsuits as one of the key new developments.
Representatives of Pebble Mine Partnership and its parent company, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., did not immediately respond to email requests for comment.
EPA administrator Michael Regan said in a statement that if the court rules in favor of the Biden administration, the agency will announce a program to pursue a process to protect Bristol Bay from development under the Clean Water Act.
“What is at stake is preventing pollution that will disproportionately affect Alaska Natives and safeguarding a sustainable future for the most productive salmon fisheries in North America,” said Mr. Regan.
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