Earthjustice reacts to legal filing seeking to overturn EPA determination vetoing the mine.
Earthjustice joins with a broad and unified coalition of Tribes, Bristol Bay residents, commercial and sport fishers, environmental organizations, businesses, and many other Americans and Alaskans today (July 26th, 2023) to express dismay over a move by the State of Alaska asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to veto the Pebble Mine under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act.
“It’s a highly unusual legal move, and also a highly unpopular one,” said Carole Holley, Earthjustice’s Alaska Regional Office Managing Attorney. “The governor and his administration are working against the wishes of most Alaskans, especially Bristol Bay residents, by continuing to side with the mine developer.”
The EPA’s Final Determination in January was a hard-won victory by all those who have been fighting for decades to stop the Pebble Mine project and was much celebrated in Alaska and nationally.
The veto followed an earlier decision by the Army Corps of Engineers to deny a key permit to the Pebble Mine developers. Collectively, these decisions had been viewed as assurance that the world-famous Bristol Bay region would be protected from the Pebble Mine. Even so, more durable protections are being sought for the Bristol Bay watershed which is critical both to the people of Bristol Bay and of national significance because of its sockeye salmon fishery worth billions of dollars.
The State of Alaska and Governor Dunleavy are largely alone in supporting the mine. Two out of three Alaskans oppose the Pebble Mine and support protections for the area. By challenging the EPA’s Final Determination in court, the State of Alaska is not representing the wishes of most Alaskans or many Americans.
For more information and to contact the Bristol Bay Defense Fund, please email Grace Nolan, [email protected].
