Tag Archives: Pebble Limited Partnership
State lawsuit claims federal government owes Alaska $700 billion for quashing Pebble mine
The federal government owes Alaska more than $700 billion in compensation for the 2023 Environmental Protection Agency action that blocked development of the massive and controversial Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration claims in a lawsuit filed in a federal court. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in the District of Columbia, is part of a flurry of legal actions by the state and the mine’s would-be developer that seek to revive the massive copper and gold project. In its complaint filed Thursday with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the state cited an estimate for 100 years of production to support the $700 billion figure. And it said Alaska had been depending on Pebble development for its economic future. more, >>click to read<< 09:26
Sen. Dan Sullivan voices strongest opposition to Pebble Mine yet – “I oppose Pebble Mine. No Pebble Mine.”
After Sen. Dan Sullivan’s name was dropped by executives of Pebble Limited Partnership in secretly recorded tapes released this week, the senator has gone to Twitter to oppose the mine. In a tweet posted Thursday afternoon, Sullivan says, “Let me be even more clear: I oppose Pebble Mine. No Pebble Mine.” That tweet ended a thread of posts he started about the “lies of Pebble’s leadership” the senator said he needed to set the record straight.,,, “Finally, I have been clear that given the important aquatic system and world-class fishery resources at stake, Pebble, like all resource development projects in Alaska, has to pass a high bard — a bar that the Trump administration has determined Pebble has not met,”, >click to read< 10:37
Pebble Mine is closer to a federal permit; supporters and critics respond
Lisa Reimers is a board member of Iliamna Natives Limited. She supports Pebble’s development. Her and my dad they’ve both passed now, but they were both big supporters of resource development,” Reimers said. “They thought their families should work. This is a good project, and we want to see something positive happen out in the area. We don’t see any projects coming down the pipeline that would help the area and make it grow, so people can continue to live out there and prosper.”- Bristol Bay Native Corporation’s President and CEO Jason Metrokin says the report fails to really address these concerns. “The final EIS is really no different,” Metrokin says. “To have such significant changes during the process and the later weeks and months of the process just goes to show, at least in our opinion, that the process seems like it’s focused on a political timeline rather than a regulatory timeline.” >click to read< 12:36
Pebble project permit application changes spark outrage
A decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider without additional public input recent changes in a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit application for the proposed Pebble mine in Southwest Alaska is sparking controversy anew Word spread after the USACE affirmed during a Sept. 17 media teleconference that there would be no additional public comment taken on 10 changes the Pebble Limited Partnership made to that application via a memo to the Corps. >click to read< 12:41
Why fishermen are mailing corks to Murkowski
Bristol Bay fishermen who oppose the Pebble Mine are adding an unusual task to their pre-season chores: They’re writing messages on cork floats and mailing them to Sen. Lisa Murkowski.,, It turns out, you can put stamps directly on a cork, add an address and the Postal Service will deliver it. “There are letters and forms you can send out, but this is more like a personalized, very fisherman way to show her that we care,” Ure said. Dillingham fisherman Katherine Carscallen said they’ve probably sent hundreds of corks by now. “This idea caught on pretty quick,” >click to read<17:23
Pebble backs fishermen lawsuit to halt Bristol Bay seafood association’s funding for anti-mine groups
Six Bristol Bay commercial fishermen are suing a regional seafood association they belong to, challenging over $250,000 in contracts it made with groups that advocate against the proposed Pebble Mine. The Pebble Limited Partnership confirmed it is paying for the litigation. The plaintiffs — Trefim Andrew, Tim Anelon, Gary Nielsen, Henry Olympic, Abe Williams and Braden Williams — are challenging the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association’s recent contracts with SalmonState and the United Tribes of Bristol Bay. Both SalmonState and UTBB are ardent Pebble opponents. >click to read<16:01
Many Alaska Peninsula Corporation shareholders aren’t willing to trade salmon for gold
The Alaska Peninsula Corporation (APC) is the merged Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act village corporation for the Bristol Bay communities of South Naknek, Newhalen, Port Heiden, Ugashik and Kokhanok. Recently, ADN ran an opinion piece from APC CEO Dave McAlister regarding the proposed Pebble Mine, a project he believes can save the communities around Lake Iliamna from economic demise. I am an APC shareholder. I live in Igiugig, one of those wonderful Lake Iliamna communities, and I disagree. >click to read< By Christina Salmon-Bringhurst 12:32
Fishermen’s group calls Corps’ analysis of potential tailings dam failure at Pebble ‘woefully inadequate’
A new study commissioned by a Bristol Bay seafood marketing group paints a doomsday scenario if the bulk tailings dam at the proposed Pebble mine ever suffered a catastrophic breach, an outcome the U.S Army Corps of Engineers has called very remote and one the mine developer has taken steps to avoid. Billions of gallons of mud would smother valley bottoms, covering vast stretches of salmon habitat, according to an executive summary released Friday. Finely ground-up waste material from mining would travel downstream and spill into Bristol Bay more than 200 river miles from the mine site, threatening the valuable salmon fishery. >click to read<13:16
State won’t support Pebble Mine, unless it can prove ‘zero impact’
Gov. Bill Walker wants to press pause on the controversial Pebble Mine project in Southwest, Alaska. Pebble is seeking federal permits on a smaller mine proposal, about half the size of the one it began pursuing more than a decade ago. But in a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers on Friday, Walker urged suspension of a critical piece of that process — the environmental impact statement — calling for proof of a “feasible and realistic” project first. “This is something that we’ve looked at very carefully, and we feel like even the project proponents are unsure of the size of this project,” said Andy Mack, Commissioner of the Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources.,, >click to read<10:45
Pebble Mine: In reversal, EPA deals setback to controversial gold mining proposal in Alaska
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced late Friday that he will not scrap the agency’s 2014 determination that a large-scale mining operation could irreparably harm Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed.,, The announcement said the decision “neither deters nor derails the application process” for the mine. “It is my judgment at this time that any mining projects in the region likely pose a risk to the abundant natural resources that exist there,” Pruitt said. “Until we know the full extent of that risk, those natural resources and world-class fisheries deserve the utmost protection.” >click here to read< 08:54
Pebble rising?
Once thought to be on the verge of death, Alaska’s proposed Pebble prospect copper and gold mine seems to be taking on a new life. First came the July announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency of President Donald Trump that it planned to lift a proposed ban on the mine ordered by the EPA of President Barrack Obama.,,, The Pebble Limited Partnership sued the Obama administration and the EPA of Trump – taking a page from the playbook of enviromental organizations fond of filing lawsuits to leverage legal settlements – in this case negotiated an agreement allowing Pebble to apply for the necessary permits. click here to read the story 09:37
Pebble mine gets no better with time – Danielle Stickman
In early 2006, when George W. Bush occupied in the White House and the Republican Party was firmly in control of Congress, then-CEO of Canadian-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Bruce Jenkins spoke to several communities in Bristol Bay about the company’s plans to construct one of the world’s largest open-pit mines in the middle of the region we have always called home. In his mind, the mine was a done deal. In fact, there was little in the way of consultation or collaboration with the community – Jenkins stated emphatically that Pebble mine would be built. It was just a question of when, not if it would be built. Fast forward 11 years. The GOP once again controls the White House and Congress, promising to open lands to new development and roll back government regulations. Perhaps not surprisingly, a project many believed was dead has been given new life. Some investment blogs and websites are newly bullish on the proposed Pebble project. Northern Dynasty’s current CEO, Ronald Thiessen, is traveling the world to tout Pebble’s prospects, stating the Pebble Limited Partnership, a subsidiary owned and created by Northern Dynasty to develop the mine, will begin permitting this year. Forgive my skepticism about these claims. continue reading the op-ed here 08:59
Third party subpoenas denied in Pebble litigation
A federal court judge has ruled against motions from the Pebble Limited Partnership to compel testimony and documents from third party interests in Pebble’s lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency. In a U.S. District Court decision handed down in Anchorage on Nov. 18, Judge H. Russel Holland quashed the motion in which Pebble sought testimony and numerous documents from the Alaska Conservation Foundation and the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, through former employees Sam Snyder and Bob Waldrop respectively. Read the article here 16:39
Anti-Pebble Initiative Clears Signature Hurdle
A group opposed to the proposed Pebble Mine has secured enough signatures to get their initiative on the ballot. On Tuesday, the Division of Elections counted 30,210 verified signatures for the Bristol Bay Forever initiative. It needs 30,169 to be put to a vote. [email protected] 21:16
