Statement on impending final Pebble environmental assessment
ANCHORAGE— On July 24, the world will know for sure what the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Pebble Mine, proposed for the headwaters of Bristol Bay, will say — but the Army Corps has deferred to the D.C. based lobbyists and executives behind the proposed Pebble Mine throughout its evaluatory process. The most recent evidence is the Corp’s assertion that the northern transportation route for the mine was determined to be “practicable” simply because the Pebble Partnership said it was practicable, despite staunch opposition and letters from Pedro Bay Corporation, Igiugig Village Council, and the Bristol Bay Native Corporation. They are landowners along the route, have asserted there is no possibility Pebble will receive permission to access their lands, and have told the Army Corps that the route should not be considered practicable. Why is the Army Corps considering Pebble’s definition of “practicable” more important than that of landowners who are staunch opponents of the mine and have been for years?
It’s unconscionable that the Army Corps is sticking to its rushed timeline and refusing to provide an additional public comment period on the northern route, which was panned in the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, which would cause irreparable harm to far more salmon streams and wetlands than the initial preferred route, and which opens up the possibility of the 78-year mine Pebble actually wants and needs.
It is well-known that the Army Corps has not sufficiently addressed myriad concerns from cooperating agencies, fishermen, Tribes and scientists in its final evaluation of the proposed open-pit gold and copper mine and toxic waste dam. The FEIS will fall far short of adequate, especially for a project at the headwaters of America’s greatest sockeye salmon resource, a place to which as of Sunday, July 19, 52,619,628 sockeye salmon had returned so far this year.
Americans, and Bristol Bay Tribes, residents and fishermen, deserve better.