Trump Administration Denies Permit For Alaska’s Pebble Mine
The outgoing Trump administration on Wednesday denied a key permit for Alaska’s Pebble Mine, a controversial project that the Obama administration blocked and that President Donald Trump revived early in his term.
In a statement, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the planned open-pit copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska would violate Clean Water Act guidelines. The project is “contrary to the public interest,” the Corps said.
The decision, which the agency said “reflects a regulatory process that is fair, flexible and balanced,” follows a yearslong review process and completes a recent about-face from the Trump administration.
In July, the Army Corps concluded the project at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, the most productive sockeye salmon fishery in the world, would have no “measurable” effect on salmon stocks or the watershed. The following month, the administration delayed the permit, saying the mine would cause “unavoidable adverse impacts” to the area’s aquatic resources, and gave Pebble Limited Partnership, the company seeking the permit, 90 days to come up with a plan to mitigate the environmental damage.
That sudden reversal came shortly after Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., Vice President Mike Pence’s former chief of staff Nick Ayers, and other conservative sportsmen spoke out against the mine development.
“The headwaters of Bristol Bay and the surrounding fishery are too unique and fragile to take any chances with,” Trump Jr. wrote in an Aug. 4 tweet.
The company’s troubles mounted in September when an environmental advocacy group released secret recordings of company executives downplaying Alaska lawmakers’ concerns about the project and boasting of plans to ultimately expand the mine well beyond the proposed footprint.
The undercover recordings ultimately led to the resignation of Pebble Limited Partnership’s chief executive, Tom Collier.
Wednesday’s announcement is the latest in a 20-year...