Bristol Bay Native Corp. has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to exercise its authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to prohibit the discharge of dredged or fill material from the proposed Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine.
The Native regional corporation has endeavored to narrow the scope of the requested prohibition to specific land owned by the State of Alaska at the headwaters of the Kvichak and Nushagak River drainages in Southwest Alaska, the site of the massive Pebble deposit.
“With Section 404(c), we recognized the opportunity to be proactive and specific in our opposition to Pebble mine, and this is one part of a broader implementation of our corporation’s commitment to protecting the sustainable natural resources in Bristol Bay and further sustainable economic development,” said Bristol Bay Native Corp. President and CEO Jason Metrokin.
Earlier this month U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, introduced H.R. 5992, which, if passed, would strip the EPA’s authority to veto an Army Corps of Engineers decision regarding 404 permits.
Currently, under section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Corps issues permits for placing dredged or fill material into an area defined as a disposal site. The Administrator of the EPA can veto a Corps’ decision to issue a permit if it believes there is an unacceptable adverse impact to shellfish beds and fishery areas, municipal water supplies, recreational areas, or wildlife. However, there is no clear criterion as to what constitutes an unacceptable adverse impact.
“The Corps of Engineers is a very efficient and effective engineering and management agency that is more than capable of making decisions regarding permitting without being second-guessed by an agency that has no real interest in resource or infrastructure development,” said Rep. Young.
“The EPA’s involvement in such permitting is unnecessary, and must be removed,” he added.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson recently visited the Bristol Bay region to listen to the concerns of the residents of the area. She also met with representatives of the Pebble Partnership, a joint venture between Anglo American plc and Northern Dynasty Ltd. to develop the Pebble project.
