Trout Unlimited calls for end of shoddy, taxpayer-funded Pebble mine permitting process

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  
Nanci Morris Lyon, owner, Bear Trail Lodge, (907) 469-0622 
Jenny Weis, Trout Unlimited Alaska program, (952) 210-7095 or jweis@tu.org 

Trout Unlimited calls for end of shoddy, taxpayer-funded Pebble mine permitting process

ANCHORAGE, AK -- Today, Trout Unlimited calls for the end of the permitting process for the proposed Pebble mine after the EPA outlined significant and detrimental deficiencies in the plan. 

More than 100 pages of comments were released by the U.S. EPA on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Pebble mine. The EPA concluded that that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' DEIS document underestimates impacts and is lacking information necessary to fully evaluate the impacts the project would have on the Bristol Bay region.

“Let’s end this mess right now,” said Jenny Weis of Trout Unlimited's Alaska program. “We call on the Trump Administration, Congress, the EPA, and the Corps to uphold existing industry in Bristol Bay and kill this project. We need to immediately end the waste of American tax dollars being spent to process a bogus mine proposal.”

The EPA comments come in the wake of an announcement last week by the agency’s chief point authority to begin to resume the withdrawal process for the 2014 proposed determination. If finalized, the determination would protect the headwaters of the Bristol Bay region from large-scale mining proposals like Pebble.

“We are happy to see the EPA echo the concerns of Bristol Bay residents, Tribes, and business owners today and reiterate the need for a science-based and thorough review for Bristol Bay in their comment to the Corps of Engineers,” said Nanci Morris Lyon, owner of Bear Trail Lodge in King Salmon. “As pointed out by the EPA, given the amount of information and detail lacking in Pebble’s plans, we hope that permit reviewers and elected decision makers will halt the permitting process.”

The proposed determination was supported by thousands of Alaskans and millions of Americans due to the economic and cultural value of the Bristol Bay fishery to Alaskans, as well as the rest of our country. 

“Today’s DEIS comments by the EPA are in line with hundreds of thousands of comments nationwide and responsive to the EPA's duty to protect human health and clean water, and not sacrifice jobs, Alaskan way of life, and world-class hunting and fishing opportunity for a risky mine proposal,” said Weis. 

The DEIS is a key document within the permitting process for the proposed Pebble mine. Along the same vein as comments filed today by the EPA, thousands of Alaskans and anglers around the country have commented in opposition to the proposed Pebble mine.
 
“We’ve been presented with a shoddy plan and an inadequate review. Still, the dangerous mine moves steadily toward reality. Given these shortcomings both by Pebble and the Army Corps of Engineers’ review, the only reasonable path forward is to stop the waste of tax dollars, end this travesty and deny Pebble’s permit proposal,” said Weis.

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Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization. In Alaska, we work with more than 100 angling businesses and thousands of individual sportsmen and women to ensure the state’s trout and salmon resources remain healthy through our local chapters and offices in Anchorage and Juneau. Follow TU on Facebook and Twitter, and visit us online at tu.org and savebristolbay.org