The Dunleavy administration has asked to the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the environmental agency’s ruling to stop this controversial Pebble Gold and Copper mine.
The administration has filed what’s called the ” bill of complaint” with the nation’s top court. The document claims that the use by the federal agency to rely on the Clean Water Act to preclude Pebble development is in violation of the rights of the state to make use of their natural resources. The document provides the state’s claim and requests permission to present the case fully to the nation’s top court.
Direct appeal at the Supreme Court while bypassing all lower courts is a unique decision, but justifiable “given the exceptional decision being contesting,” Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor stated in an statement issued by the Alaska Department of Law.
“If EPA can rely on vague definitions and subjective standards, instead of scientifically sound evidence to circumvent the normal permitting procedures of the federal and state levels there, it is able to apply it everywhere from massive mining projects like this, all the way to a family who is building the home they’ve always wanted. It’s a blatant and unprecedented control that even will be found unlawful in the U.S. Supreme Court should be able to determine is illegal,” Taylor said in the statement.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, in the statement, repeated arguments in the brief, arguing that the EPA decision effectively takes the state’s property and conflicts with the Alaska Constitution’s requirements.
“Our Constitution is simple: Alaska is responsible for making use of, developing and conserving all of the state’s natural resources to the best benefits of its citizens,” Dunleavy said in the statement. “Bureaucrats within Washington D.C. are exercising an unfettered and illegal power to block any further discussion of this crucial decision that affects so thousands of Alaskans.”
The EPA on January. 30 made an announcement about it was going to invoke a seldom-used provision in the Clean Water Act to prohibit the development for mines like the Pebble Mine or any similar mining operation in the area. This announcement ended the course of a process that lasted more than a decade. It began with the 2010 requests by Native organizations to an agency of the Federal government to invoke this provision of the Clean Water Act to prevent the mining from being permitted. Its subsection 404(c) authorizes the EPA to stop projects that cause the dredge or fill to have an “unacceptable negative impact” on the municipal water supply as well as wildlife habitats, fisheries or recreation areas.
In the Obama administration during the Obama administration, the EPA prepared an Bristol Bay watershed assessment which has been completed by the end of 2014. In the course of the regulatory process it was decided that the Obama administration’s EPA suggested an Section 404(c) ban on Pebble or any similar mine in the watershed. It cited the irreparable loss to the habitat of salmon vital to both humans as well as wildlife. This process was slowed due to litigation and then suspended by the subsequent Trump administration, only to be revived under Biden’s administration. Biden administration.
The 91-page complaint submitted by the state on Wednesday outlines this EPA decision as denying the state the economic benefit – specifically, the potential mining of the land at issue. The Pebble deposit is home to gold, copper and other minerals.
“Due to its location and the absence of infrastructure and development, the only productive usage of the area is mine. However, by making it difficult to the State to make use of the mineral resources on the land and resources, the EPA effectively took over the land and made it the park as a national park, which is in violation of the federal laws,” the document says.
To mine opponents Pebble’s territory, Pebble is worth the importance to and sustaining the Bristol Bay ecosystem, home to the largest run of sockeye salmon and the basis for major subsistence and commercial fishing harvests.
The idea of building the huge open-pit mine been met with opposition for a long time from environmental, fishing and Native groups, including those from the region, including Bristol Bay Native Corp. The polling carried out by the Bristol Bay Native Corp. The results have shown that there has been a consistent statewide opposition against the mine from 2012, and even more adamant opposition within the region.
On Wednesday, representatives from the groups who have been fighting to stop the mine – and were thrilled by the decision of the EPA earlier in the year expressed surprise and dissatisfied at the appeal made by the State to the Supreme Court.
“Today’s legal notice from Governor Dunleavy is an attack of Bristol Bay. Contrary to the false story that it was our Tribes of the Alaska’s First People, who requested this move because politicians such as Governor Dunleavy have slammed the door into our faces and put the interests of the Canadian Mining company above our rural communities and our world-class salmon fishing industry,” Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay in an announcement.
Hurley claimed that the EPA decision “is founded on solid scientific research” and said he believes the Dunleavy administration’s effort is likely to be a failure. “The Governor is yet repeatedly ignoring the will of Alaskans and the legal process by filing a lawsuit directly before the Supreme Court. However we, as Tribes remain determined to fight for the EPA’s Clean Water Act protections for our region. We will utilize every tool we have to safeguard our waterways and our salmon as well as our own people.” the woman said.
Nelli Williams Alaska director for Trout Unlimited Also, she released an announcement.
“The Governor is completely ignoring Alaskans and the scientific community with this lawsuit. Even more shockingly, he’s making use of public money to back up mining executives who are out of state at the cost of Alaska’s salmon and everyone else who relies on them. This is anti-Alaska,” she said.
Carole Holley, Alaska regional managing attorney of Earthjustice she said the move “goes against the wishes of a majority of people in Alaska.” She said: “It’s a highly unusual legal decision, and extremely unpopular.”
However, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., the Vancouver-based company that manages Pebble Limited Partnership, which is based in Vancouver Pebble Limited Partnership, applauded the move of the administration and pledged to support the legal process.
“The Bill of Complaint filed by Alaska is a welcomed new development in the Pebble story,” Ron Thiessen, the president of the company and chief executive officers declared in an announcement. “Northern Dynasty and, I’m saying extremely strongly, agrees with all the arguments put out by the State and we thank the State for taking these issues directly before the U.S. Supreme Court. Northern Dynasty intends to prepare and submit to the Supreme Court appropriate briefs to defend the State’s argument.”
The state’s decision is taking place as the Bristol Bay commercial salmon season is nearing its end. As as of the day of Wednesday 38.6 millions salmon most of which were sockeye, were taken by commercial fishermen during the summer season, as per preliminary data provided by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The harvest this year is far less than the 60 million fish that were caught in the previous year from the record-breaking Bristol Bay sockeye run of 79 million fish. But it’s above the current 20-year average according to Department of Fish and Game statistics. Bristol Bay sockeye runs have been particularly robust in recent years according to department.
The Supreme Court will not be in session until the month of October.
