DILLINGHAM, AK – Friday, the Army Corps of Engineers released the Pebble Limited Partnership’s application to build a mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay’s world-class fishery. While our science and technical partners are still reviewing the application, it is immediately clear that Pebble has continued to mislead Alaskans about the scope of the project this fall.
“After witnessing more than a decade of Pebble’s deceit in Bristol Bay, it is no surprise that the application released this morning describes a much larger, different project than Pebble presented to Alaskans in the last six months,” said United Tribes of Bristol Bay President Robert Heyano. “The science on such a project is already available, and already clear: this mine will devastate the Bristol Bay fishery. Bristol Bay residents will continue to fight this project and protect the water that has sustained our way of life since time immemorial.”[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]Pebble’s thousand-plus-page application describes a massive mining project. For example, the application identifies 3,190.55 acres of wetlands and other waters to be filled at the mine site alone. That is nearly three times the wetlands losses the EPA identified as posing unacceptable adverse impacts to the ecosystem. Additionally, the application lists Upper Talarik Creek as one of eight waterbodies “directly impacted” by the proposed project. This runs counter to recent statements by Pebble CEO Tom Collier stating the project would not affect Upper Talarik Creek and the Kvichak River watersheds.