Like targets in a shooting gallery, the Trump administration continues to take aim at the most significant environmental decisions by the Obama administration. In the latest action, the EPA announced a settlement agreement with the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP), the consortium seeking to build a copper and gold ore mine in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska.
Under the settlement, the EPA will withdraw its proposed determination, which would have restricted the use of certain waters in the Bristol Bay watershed for disposal of dredged or fill material associated with mining the Pebble deposit. The restrictions were so severe, it was unlikely the project could have proceeded.
Tribes seek fishery protection
In 2005, Northern Dynasty Minerals, PLP’s parent company, discovered the deposits and announced plans to mine the area, which is located near the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world. The fishery provides subsistence and economic opportunities to many native American tribes.
According to EPA’s 2014 final assessment, the objective of the project is to extract up to 11 billion tons of copper and gold ore from an open-pit mine, a process that would require disposal of massive volumes of mining waste. The facility would employ an estimated 14,000 workers and generate annual revenues of nearly $500 million.
In 2010, the tribes said PLP’s project would endanger the fishing economy of the region and asked the EPA to make use of Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404(c). That section states that the Agency may prohibit the use of any area as a disposal site if it determines that the activity “will have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas (including spawning and breeding areas), wildlife, or recreational areas.” The EPA eventually issued its 404(c) assessment and proposed determination.
The PLP decided to sue, arguing mainly that the Agency unlawfully proposed its determination even before the PLP had submitted a CWA permit application for the project.
Period of forbearance
Under the agreement and provided certain conditions are met, the EPA has now committed to beginning a process to withdraw the proposed determination, thereby providing “Pebble a fair process for their permit application,” said the Agency. Also:
- The EPA will not move to the next step in its CWA process, which would be to issue a recommended determination (determination steps are proposed, recommended, final) until 48 months from the effective date of the agreement or until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues its final Environmental Impact Statement, whichever comes first. To take advantage of this “period of forbearance,” the PLP would have to file its permit application within 30 months from the date of the agreement.
- The PLP will drop its lawsuits and requests for fees against the EPA and agree to file no Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests during the pendency of the forbearance period.
- The EPA may use its scientific assessment regarding the Bristol Bay Watershed without limitation.
Smaller project?
“From the outset of this unfortunate saga, we’ve asked for nothing more than fairness and due process under the law—the right to propose a development plan for Pebble and have it assessed against the robust environmental regulations and rigorous permitting requirements enforced in Alaska and the United States,” said Ron Thiessen, president and CEO of Northern Dynasty Minerals. “Today’s settlement gives us precisely that, the same treatment every developer and investor in a stable, first world country should expect.”
Thiessen added that the Pebble Partnership has been advancing planning for a smaller project design at Pebble than previously considered, one that incorporates significant environmental safeguards.
But leaders of Bristol Bay’s native tribes expressed outrage.
“Pebble can tell you what they want, you just need to look on their website, they’re going to mine it until the end until the last dollar until they can extract the last dollar out of that resource,” said Russell Nelson, chairman of the Land Committee with the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, in response to a question about Pebble’s assertions that it will seek a small mine size. “They can tell you it’s small, but look at the cost of developing. They need to get their money out. They’re in it for the money.”
The settlement agreement is here.