Save the Alaskan Wilderness: Urge the Army Corps to Reject the Permit for Pebble Mine

We're closer than ever to stopping the Pebble Mine, the catastrophic gold and copper mega-mine that could destroy Alaska's Bristol Bay wilderness for decades to come.

As we reported a few weeks back, Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals just walked away from its planned investment in the Pebble Mine, thanks to opposition from Bristol Bay leaders and hundreds of thousands of activists like you.

Northern Dynasty Minerals — the company behind the mega-mine — is now running low on cash and unable to prove the economic viability of its mine plan, yet it is barreling ahead with the permitting process. So, now we must mobilize as much public pressure as possible on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to suspend — and ultimately reject — the project's permit, closing the door on this reckless scheme once and for all.

The Army Corps of Engineers is accepting public comments until June 29, so it's critical that they hear from you immediately.

Tell the Army Corps that you oppose the Pebble Mine — and urge them to suspend and reject the permit for this disastrous mega-mine.

The Pebble Mine could produce billions of tons of mining waste and completely devastate Alaska's Bristol Bay wilderness, its world-renowned salmon runs and wildlife, and its Native communities.

Despite the risks to the world's greatest wild salmon fishery, Northern Dynasty submitted an incomplete permit application that lacks either the scientific or economic support for its plans.

Worse, the company is now scheming to make the mine even bigger — without submitting any supporting documents to the Army Corps.

Tell the Army Corps to immediately suspend the mine's permitting process.
The agency is currently rushing to complete the permitting process in less time than any other large-scale development project in Alaska. And to make matters worse, they're not giving potentially impacted communities and businesses the opportunity to voice their concerns at public hearings as part of the process.

The Pebble Mine is the largest and most contentious mine ever proposed in Alaska.The Army Corps must take the time to properly assess the social, environmental, and economic impacts that this mega-mine could have on Alaskan communities and American businesses.

Tell the Army Corps to stop the Pebble Mine and save Alaska's Bristol Bay wilderness.

The Pebble Mine is opposed by 65 percent of Alaskans and 80 percent of people from Bristol Bay, including tribes, business leaders, commercial fishermen, and native village corporations.

And three of the largest mining companies in the world — Mitsubishi Corporation, Anglo American, and Rio Tinto — have already abandoned the project. Now First Quantum Minerals has joined that list.

So, it's time for the Army Corps to heed all of these voices — and reject the permit for the Pebble Mine.

Add your voice today: Submit your public comment to the Army Corps before June 29.

- Rhea Suh. President, NRDC

#SAVEBRISTOLBAY

Stop the salmon-killing Pebble Mine (signatures needed)

Tell First Quantum: Don't invest in Pebble Mine

The petition to First Quantum CEO Philip K.R. Pascall reads: "Do not invest in the Pebble Mine." Add your name:

When a Canadian mining company tried to build a massive open-pit mine near Alaska’s pristine Bristol Bay, we thought we had stopped them. CREDO members and more than 1 million others told the EPA that Bristol Bay must be protected from the planned Pebble Mine. We won a major victory when the EPA announced it would cancel a dangerous plan to remove vital environmental protections for Bristol Bay, home to the world's largest salmon fishery.1 But now the mine's backers are trying to build the Pebble Mine anyway, claiming they can somehow make a notoriously toxic mining process safe. And last week, the Army Corps of Engineers released a plan to fast-track the mine's environmental review process.2 Our best hope of stopping the mine now is to make sure it doesn't get funded. Most of the mine's investors have already dropped out, but one company, First Quantum Minerals, is considering investing more than a billion dollars in the mine. Without their money, the mine may never happen. Tell First Quantum: Don't invest in the Pebble Mine. Click here to sign the petition. If it does get built, the Pebble Mine would be the largest mine of its type in North America. The mine itself would cover up to 6.9 square miles, with an 18-square-mile wastewater pond to store the 10 billion tons of potentially toxic waste the mine is expected to generate.3 A burst dam at a similar mine's wastewater pond dumped more than 4.5 million cubic meters of toxic waste into nearby lakes and streams.4 This is exactly the kind of environmental disaster that could happen in Alaska if the Pebble Mine moves forward. First Quantum is considering an investment of $150 million to help the Pebble Mine move forward with permitting and then a subsequent investment of $1.35 billion to develop the mine development.5 We expect the company to make a decision in the coming weeks, so now is the time to let it know the world is watching. Tell First Quantum: Don't invest in the Pebble Mine. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/first-quantum-pebble?t=7&akid=27879%2E3130208%2ELaAtH5 - Brandy Doyle, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Timothy Puko, "EPA Chief Reverses Course On Pebble Mine in Alaska," The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 26, 2018. Elwood Brehmer, "Corps of Engineers releases two-year schedule for Pebble EIS," Alaska Journal of Commerce, March 22, 2018. Digital Journal, "More press releases» Press Release EPA Opens Public Comment Period on Proposed Pebble Mine Project," Aug. 7, 2014. Peter Moskowitz, "Mount Polley mine spill: a hazard of Canada's industry-friendly attitude?," The Guardian, August 13, 2014. Resource World, "Northern Dynasty ups resource estimate at giant Pebble Project," Feb. 23, 2018.

Don’t Let Trump and Pruitt Turn Alaskan Wilderness into Wasteland

The Trump administration is paving the way for the disastrous Pebble Mine — the toxic, gold and copper mega-mine that poses catastrophic risks to Alaska's spectacular Bristol Bay and its world-renowned salmon runs, abundant wildlife populations, and Native communities.

President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency proposed common-sense restrictions that would have banned this dangerous mine because of the obvious environmental risks it would pose, like generating a staggering 10 billion tons of contaminated mining waste that would have to be stored forever—in a seismically active area.

But President Trump’s EPA recently reached a backroom deal with Northern Dynasty Minerals — the Canadian company behind the mine — to reverse those restrictions. The EPA’s decision is a handout to the mining industry at the expense of one of America’s last wild places and its people. We can’t let it stand. 

Tell President Trump and the EPA you’re outraged that they would put the profits of foreign mining companies ahead of the American people — and that you’ll fight them every step of the way until they slam the door on the Pebble Mine and protect Bristol Bay, its wildlife, its economy, and its communities from destruction.

SEND A MESSAGE HERE.

Your message will be sent to:

Scott Pruitt, EPA Administrator
Michelle Pirzadeh, Acting Region 10 Administrator
President Donald J. Trump

Subject line:  Stop the Pebble Mine

(Consider adding your own thoughts — personalized messages are especially effective)

Dear President Trump, Administrator Pruitt, and Acting Region 10 Administrator Pirzadeh:

I am outraged that you plan to reverse course and green-light the proposed Pebble Mine, despite the catastrophic risks it poses to Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, its world-renowned salmon runs, and its Native communities. 

President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency proposed common-sense restrictions that would have banned this dangerous mine because of the obvious environmental risks it would pose. The EPA’s recent settlement with Northern Dynasty Minerals to reverse those common-sense restrictions is a blatant giveaway to the mining industry at the expense of the American people, our environment, and our economy.

Bristol Bay's wild salmon fishery supports 14,000 jobs and is valued at more than $1.5 billion annually. It also supplies nearly half of the world’s sockeye salmon. More than 65 percent of Alaskans, 80 percent of Bristol Bay residents and Native communities, and 85 percent of commercial fishermen oppose the mine.

I urge you to listen to those voices, and for the sake of the Bristol Bay watershed, its world-class salmon fishery, and its people, keep the door closed on Pebble Mine. If you don’t, you will have to answer to me and hundreds of thousands of people in Alaska and across the United States and the world who stand in fervent opposition to this toxic mega-mine. 

- NRDC

Protect Bristol Bay from dangerous open-pit mining

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has moved to cancel its 2014 protections for the majestic Bristol Bay. Lifting these restrictions opens the Bay up to foreign mining companies to develop a toxic, open pit mine near some of our most precious salmon headwaters. Now, it’s time to reignite the fight to protect Bristol Bay!

Bristol Bay is home to one of the most valuable fishing grounds in the United States, contributing more than $1 billion in annual revenue and thousands of jobs. But if approved, this project would jeopardize the integrity of Alaskan communities and environment. Open pit mining would directly impact the world’s largest and greatest sockeye salmon run, putting in jeopardy 14,000 fishing jobs, a 10,000-year cultural tradition of subsistence, and a huge sport fishing and tourism economy.

The EPA is accepting public comments until October 17. We must raise our voices louder than ever to keep Big Polluters OUT of Bristol Bay.

TAKE ACTION: Stop the largest open-pit mine in N. American from being built in the Bristol Bay watershed.

Alaska’s Bristol Bay is home to some of the most abundant salmon populations found anywhere in the world, a $1 billion fishing industry, and Native communities that have thrived on this resource for millennia. However, all this could be destroyed.

The Trump administration has just cut a deal with the corporation that would build the massive Pebble Mine in the Bristol Bay watershed, and we need your help to fight back.

In the mountains, streams and wetlands surrounding this spectacular bay, developers have proposed the largest open-pit mine ever built in North America—a mine pit that could be nearly as deep as the Grand Canyon. Over its lifetime, this copper and gold mine could generate 23 billion tons of dangerous waste, wiping out over 90 miles of salmon streams and more than 5,000 acres of intertwined wetlands, ponds and lakes—the very heart of this rich salmon ecosystem.

In 2010, alarmed local Native tribes petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to prevent destruction of these vital waters. The EPA responded with a rigorous, peer-reviewed scientific study concluding that the proposed mine would have unacceptable adverse effects on the rich salmon fishery. After completing this study, the EPA in 2014 proposed new restrictions needed to protect the habitat, and with the help of people like you, the public response was overwhelmingly supportive.

But the Pebble Limited Partnership, which owns the mining rights, waged a protracted legal battle that prevented the EPA from taking final action before the new administration took office. And then…along came the Trump administration, which quickly settled that lawsuit with the mining company!

Yep. The Scott Pruitt-led EPA has now promised to start the process of withdrawing the proposed protections…and that’s where you come in! We need you to say no.

This backroom deal ignores years of rigorous scientific study and overwhelming community opposition to a mine that would devastate the local fishing economy, culture and way of life.

But we can still beat this mine. The EPA needs to hear loud and clear from voices across the country that science matters, that communities must be protected, and that the Pebble Mine is not acceptable.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Your personalized message will be added along with the following letter:

Dear Administrator Pruitt and Acting Regional Administrator Pirzadeh,

I write in support of the communities of Alaska's Bristol Bay and ask you not to withdraw the proposed determination to adopt restrictions protecting the habitat of Bristol Bay's world-renowned salmon.

The proposed determination was made at the request of local communities and adopted only after years of rigorous scientific study, public participation and peer review. The EPA was correct in 2014 when it found that the Pebble Mine would have "significant and unacceptable adverse effects" on "one of the most productive, pristine, valuable and vulnerable ecosystems remaining in North America today."

The EPA has noted that commercial fishing in Bristol Bay generates $300 million annually in direct sales of commercially caught salmon, generating 11,000 jobs. These salmon support not only the commercial and sportfishing industries, but a traditional Native way of life that has endured for millennia and thrives today.

The EPA should stand by its proposed determination and take all necessary actions to protect the Bristol Bay watershed.