Earth Protect Blog

By Lisa Friedman

© The New York Times Co.

WASHINGTON » The Biden administration Thursday took the first steps that would allow it to begin the process of protecting Alaska’s pristine Bristol Bay, one of the world’s most valuable sockeye salmon fisheries that also sits atop massive copper and gold deposits long coveted by mining companies.

The administration filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for Alaska to quash a Trump-era decision that had stripped environmental protections for Bristol Bay, about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage. If the court agrees, the administration could begin crafting permanent protections for the area.

In a statement, the Environmental Protection Agency argued that the Trump administration acted unlawfully in 2019 when it rejected concerns that a proposed massive gold and copper mine would threaten the fisheries, withdrawing federal protections from Bristol Bay.

The move will have little immediate impact because the Trump administration ultimately denied an essential permit for the project, known as Pebble Mine, in 2020. That happened after President Donald Trump’s son Donald Jr. and Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, both of whom enjoyed hunting and fishing in the region, joined environmental activists and Native tribes to oppose the mine in an unlikely coalition.

But environmental activists noted that the decision to reject the permit by the Army Corps of Engineers is being appealed by the Pebble Limited Partnership, the company seeking to build the mine. The company wants to dig a pit, more than a mile square and one-third of a mile deep, to obtain the metals, estimated to be worth at least $300 billion. The project would include the construction of a 270megawatt power plant and 165-mile natural-gas pipeline, as well as an 82-mile road and large dammed ponds for the tailings — some of them toxic. It also would require dredging a port at Iliamna Bay.

At the moment, there is nothing in place to stop a new attempt at a mining project in the region, although the Biden administration’s request to the court is seen as a first step in changing that.

“I’m pleased the Biden administration has taken this important step to secure permanent protection for this unparalleled watershed and the salmon and people that it supports,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, said in a statement to The New York Times. “Mining in the Bristol Bay watershed would have caused irreparable harm to the largest sockeye fishery in the world.”

Federal and state agencies found that the proposed Pebble Mine, which would be in two watersheds that feed fishspawning rivers, would cause permanent damage. Scientists say it would destroy more than 130 miles of streams, 2,800 acres of wetlands and 130 acres of open water.

On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden made a promise to “listen to the scientists and protect Bristol Bay.”

Mike Heatwole, a spokesman for the Pebble Mine Partnership, said in a statement the company intends to monitor the EPA actions to determine the impact on the project and permitting process.

“As the Biden administration seeks lower carbon emissions for energy production, they should recognize that such change will require significantly more mineral production — notably copper,” he wrote. “The Pebble Project remains an important domestic source for the minerals necessary for the administration to reach its green energy goals.”