Pebble Mine Remains a Threat to Bristol Bay

The story of the Pebble Mine project covers more than two decades. As described by Joel Reynolds of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the project has “a long history of failure… abandonment by its mining partners, denial of a federal permit by the Trump Administration, issuance of a rare U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) veto by the Biden Administration, and widespread condemnation (including by over 80 percent of Bristol Bay’s residents and 100 percent of Alaska’s congressional delegation). But as a matter of law, the show’s not actually over until the courts say it is.”

In 2023, Northern Dynasty Minerals, the company attempting to establish Pebble Mine challenged the EPA’s 2023 Final Determination that prohibits the discharge of mining waste into more than 2,000 acres of Bristol Bay watershed and wetlands under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act. The mining companies have recently added U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to the suit for denying the project a permit in the fall of 2020.

The fact that EPA has used this authority only 3 times in the past 30 years shows both the importance of the watershed and the serious threat of damage by the Pebble Mine.

The Importance of Bristol Bay

Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed provides habitat for 29 fish species, more than 190 bird species, and more than 40 terrestrial mammals and rare freshwater harbor seals. Bristol Bay supports more wild salmon populations than anywhere else on earth, including all five species of pacific salmon (see graphic below). Salmon are anadromous – they hatch and rear in freshwater systems and migrate to the sea, when they have matured, they return to freshwater to spawn and die. Almost half the world’s sockeye salmon is supported by the Bristol Bay watershed.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Gene Conservation Laboratory has determined from genetic sampling that there are 140 distinct populations of sockeye salmon that range in southwest Alaska. The Bristol Bay commercial fishery supports 14,000 sustainable American jobs worth $1.5 billion annually. These rivers also sustain two of the last intact, sustainable, salmon-based cultures in the world and provide clean drinking water for several thousand rural residents.

The Threat of Pebble Mine

If built, Pebble Mine would be a massive pit one mile in diameter and 600 feet deep. The site would destroy 3,500 acres of wetlands and more than 80 miles of salmon streams. The site would produce an estimated 10 billion tons of waste. Earthen dams would hold back toxic mine tailings, all in earthquake country, in the headwaters of Bristol Bay. Mining companies do not pay for cleanup – US and Canadian taxpayers do.

Almost half of the Bristol Bay salmon production comes from the Nushagak and Kvichak River watersheds – two of the most endangered rivers in America. The threat to the Nushagak and Kvichak rivers is from the proposed massive open-pit copper and gold mine, which would also require an 84-mile transportation corridor that would further endanger pristine ecosystems in southwest Alaska.

A Brief Timeline of Pebble Mine Events

The Pebble Mine project was considered dead a decade ago, after the EPA ruled in 2014 that it posed too grave a threat to the world’s largest run of sockeye salmon in nearby Bristol Bay. The timeline below shows the tenacity of the mining company behind the Pebble Mine Limited Partnership. If passed, Alaska Representative Mary Peltola’s Bristol Bay Protection Act codifying the EPA rule will ensure the salmon runs and region are permanently protected from the Pebble Mine.

Pebble Mine Timeline and EPA Actions to Protect Bristol Bay

• 1988: Cominco discovered Pebble West
• 2001: Canadian company Northern Dynasty Minerals (NDM) acquired rights to Pebble Mine
• 2005: NDM discovered Pebble East
• 2007: South African company Anglo American and NDM formed Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP)
• 2010: Nine Bristol Bay Tribes, commercial fishermen, and sportsmen requested the EPA conduct a Section 404c Environmental Assessment study under the Clean Water Act.
• 2011: Developers released preliminary assessment and environmental data; EPA began a 3-year assessment of Bristol Bay watershed
• 2013: Anglo American left the project
• 2014: EPA published Environmental Assessment. Issued Proposed Determination under 404(c) of the Clean Water Act for the use of the Pebble Deposit Area in Southwest Alaska as a disposal site associated with mining of the deposit.
• 2017: State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources issued PLP permit renewal; required $2 million reclamation bond.
• 2020: Army Corps of Engineers released its final EIS and denied the project a permit for its discharge plan.
• 2024: The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request of the State of Alaska to review and strike down the EPA ruling.

What You Can Do

Stay informed, sign the petitions, and/or donate…

Importance of Sustainable Sourcing

Sizzlefish.com is a purveyor of high-quality fish – including coho, king, and sockeye salmon. We have many years of experience sourcing, preparing, and packaging the best seafood. Eating high-quality seafood is not only good for our customers but also for the earth, with natural, sustainably sourced seafood. We hope that Bristol Bay will be protected and that the world’s sockeye salmon supply will not be cut in half by the likely disaster that Pebble Mine would bring.