While offering no verdict about whether the project should move forward, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday released a draft watershed assessment that described the damage that could befall some of the world's premier salmon fisheries if a huge gold and copper prospect near the headwaters of Bristol Bay failed and released contaminants.
EPA's draft study does not provide an in-depth assessment of the Pebble project, but instead assesses the potential environmental impacts associated with mining activities anticipated at the huge site on state land.
The Pebble Partnership, the group behind the proposed mine, describes the deposit as potentially one of the largest in the world. It is estimated to hold 81 billion pounds of copper, 107 million ounces of gold and 5 billion pounds of molybdenum that would be mined over the coming decades.
Because of that value and the value of the Bristol Bay fishery, the largest wild salmon run in the world, the project has been the subject of a heated public relations battle for years. Supporters point to the jobs the mine would bring to rural Alaska, but opponents fear it could fundamentally change the landscape and disrupt lives now centered around the harvest of salmon.
The report said that if water from the mine is not managed properly, contaminants could flow into streams. Even if there is no disaster involving the mine, the agency said there would still have an impact on fish, including the removal of wetlands and a reduction in the amount and quality of fish habitat due to the water used for mine operations.
Unsurprisingly, the Pebble Partnership is dissatisfied with the EPA's report. In a prepared statement, Pebble CEO John Shively called the process "rushed and inadequate." Shively has questions whether the EPA could really have done a thorough job giving only a year of studied attention to a region nearly 20,000 square miles large.
"The Pebble deposit is located on State of Alaska lands that are open to mineral exploration and development," Shively said in a company press release. "As such, the State has expressed strong objection about the entire process the EPA is undertaking in this area. At Statehood, the federal government granted Alaska access to lands in order to develop an economy for the new state. Federal intrusions such as those facilitated by the EPA's watershed assessment initiative clearly strike at the heart of the agreement between the state and the federal government, and could have a chilling effect on future resource development investments in Alaska."
Pebble is worried the EPA will try to block the project, and that if it does any such interference will be premature and based on incomplete information.
Yet blocking the project is exactly what Alaska commercial fishing groups are urging the EPA to do, calling on the agency to uphold standards under the Clean Water Act and take action to protect the fishery.
"The EPA's scientific report makes it clear Pebble Mine's plan to dig a hole displacing 10 billion tons of waste material is bad for Bristol Bay's fish and salmon habitat," Lindsey Bloom, a leader of Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay, said in a press release. "The EPA should take the next logical step and prohibit or restrict toxic mine waste in the Bristol Bay watershed."
Though the return varies year to year, Bristol Bay can see annual runs of as many as 40 million red salmon.
"Too many American fisheries have been wrecked by habitat damage and chemical pollution," added Robin Samuelsen of Dillingham in the same release. "This may be our country's last chance to get it right the first time."
This is a developing story. Check back for additional information.