Huffman, DeFazio Urge EPA Administrator to Protect Bristol Bay from Pebble Mine
San Rafael, CA – Yesterday, Representatives Jared Huffman (CA-02), Chair of the Natural Resources Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee and member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler urging him to use his authority to veto the flawed Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Pebble Mine on the grounds that the project would have significant negative impacts on Bristol Bay, Alaska.
“If constructed, the Pebble Mine would be the largest open pit gold and copper mine in North America. It would be sited at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed, threatening a globally significant ecosystem and imperiling the world’s greatest wild sockeye salmon fishery, which drives a multimillion-dollar economy,” the Members wrote in their letter. “While USACE has announced the Pebble Mine cannot be permitted as currently proposed, it is important to note that USACE has not made a decision on the permit but has required the project sponsors to submit a mitigation plan in 90 days. There is no level of compensatory mitigation that would be sufficient to address the mine’s irreversible harm to the pristine environment that exists in Bristol Bay. It is thus critical that the EPA exercise its authority under the Clean Water Act and oppose the flawed Environmental Impact Statement. The Pebble Mine would put the livelihoods, cultures, and economy of Native Tribes and Bristol Bay communities at grave risk and we urge you to fulfill your mission to protect human health and the environment.”
Representative Huffman led 53 of his colleagues last June in a letter to the United States Army Corps of Engineers urging them to deny the flawed permit for the proposed Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Rep. Huffman has continued to be a vocal opponent of the project, including leading amendments in both the FY2020 and FY2021 appropriations bills barring the federal government from moving forward with the flawed permit. Both amendments passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
Chair DeFazio, whose Committee has jurisdiction over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Clean Water Act, has continued to call on the Trump administration to block the Pebble Mine project at every step of the process. In October 2019, the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing titled “The Pebble Mine Project: Process and Potential Impacts” where the Committee heard testimony from those who are directly affected by this proposed plan.
In addition to Representatives Huffman and DeFazio, this letter was signed by Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-02), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11), Deb Haaland (NM-01), Harley Rouda (CA-48), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Adam Smith (WA-09), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Jackie Speier (CA-14), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Peter Welch (VT), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Mike Levin (CA-49), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (IL-04), Judy Chu (CA-27), Steve Cohen (TN-09) Ann McLane Kuster (NH-02), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), and Albio Sires (NJ-08).
The full letter can be viewed here or below:
The Honorable Andrew Wheeler
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
Dear Administrator Wheeler:
We write to urge you to use your authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to
protect Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine. The Environmental Protection Agency can veto the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the grounds that the Pebble Mine would have significant impacts to one of America’s most ecologically valuable waters. The agency has itself already acknowledged that these threats exist – in January 2018, then Administrator Scott Pruitt noted that “any mining projects in the region likely pose a risk to the abundant natural resources that exist there”[1].
If constructed, the Pebble Mine would be the largest open pit gold and copper mine in North America. It would be sited at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed, threatening a globally significant ecosystem and imperiling the world’s greatest wild sockeye salmon fishery, which drives a multimillion-dollar economy. Alaska indigenous communities have lived and depended on the Bristol Bay watershed for thousands of years. Further, the project doesn’t meet the standards of the people of Alaska, who have made their opposition to it quite clear - opposition is consistently between 55-60% among Alaskans and the mine is opposed by Alaska Native Tribes, sportsmen, fishermen, and scientists.
A project of massive scale should face an incredible amount of careful scrutiny, but the permitting process led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been one of the fastest permitting processes for a project of this size under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It is promising that USACE has finally acknowledged that the mine “would likely result in significant degradation of the environment and would likely result in significant adverse effects on the aquatic system or human environment”. While USACE has announced the Pebble Mine cannot be permitted as currently proposed[2], it is important to note that USACE has not made a decision on the permit but has required the project sponsors to submit a mitigation plan in 90 days. There is no level of compensatory mitigation that would be sufficient to address the mine’s irreversible harm to the pristine environment that exists in Bristol Bay.
It is thus critical that the EPA exercise its authority under the Clean Water Act and oppose the flawed Environmental Impact Statement. The Pebble Mine would put the livelihoods, cultures, and economy of Native Tribes and Bristol Bay communities at grave risk and we urge you to fulfill your mission to protect human health and the environment.
Sincerely,
[Members of Congress]
[1] January 26, 2018. “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Suspends Withdrawal of Proposed Determination in Bristol Bay Watershed, Will Solicit Additional Comments” https://archive.epa.gov/epa/newsreleases/epa-administrator-scott-pruitt-suspends-withdrawal-proposed-determination-bristol-bay.html
[2] https://www.army.mil/article/238426/army_finds_pebble_mine_project_cannot_be_permitted_as_proposed
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