The Department of Justice stepped into an ongoing legal battle around the proposed Pebble Mine this week, issuing a brief that defends the EPA’s veto of the project. This is a win for conservationists, hunters, and anglers, as well as the tribes and local Alaskans who fought the mine over concerns for water quality, wildlife, and wild salmon. It also shows the Trump administration’s willingness to continue protecting the Bristol Bay region and its world-class salmon runs.
“The Trump administration is standing strong” on Pebble, SalmonState communications director Mary Catharine Martin tells Outdoor Life. She points to the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision in 2020, under the first Trump administration, to deny Pebble’s mining permit, as well as the administration’s announcement in July to reaffirm the EPA’s veto.
“Bristol Bay is a key piece of America’s hunting and fishing heritage,” Martin says. “So I think this really speaks to the incredible nature of this place and the importance of safeguarding that.”
In its 100-page brief filed Tuesday, the DOJ stood behind the EPA’s veto, which the agency issued in January 2023 using its authority under the Clean Water Act. This monumental decision effectively blocked the development of the proposed copper-molybdenum-gold mine by preventing the discharge of any dredged or fill material within the footprint of the proposed Pebble Mine site. It followed the agency’s Proposed Determination in 2022, which found that the mine “could result in unacceptable adverse effects on salmon fishery areas within the Bristol Bay watershed.”
The DOJ’s brief acknowledges that the EPA’s determination was based on extensive science. And it recognizes the “socio-economic, ecological, and cultural importance” of the region, which is home to the world’s largest sockeye run and provides around half of the world’s wild Pacific salmon.
“These streams, wetlands, and other aquatic resources provide the foundation for world-class, economically important, commercial and sport fisheries for salmon and other fish species. The region’s salmon resources have also supported Alaska Native cultures for thousands of years,” the DOJ writes in the brief’s introduction. The department adds that any “degradation of salmon habitat would threaten the stability and resilience of salmon populations.”
Northern Dynasty Minerals, the mining corporation behind the Pebble project, has already responded harshly to the DOJ’s brief, calling it a “surprisingly short-sighted” move that threatens the Trump administration’s pro-energy, pro-mining, and pro-development agenda. The company is already suing the EPA over the 2023 veto, which it contends was illegal.
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In a statement issued Thursday, Northern Dynasty’s CEO Ron Thiessen spoke to the company’s eagerness to continue its court battle. Thiessen also accused the DOJ of bucking political norms by making arguments that do not align with “the pro-business Republican Administration[s]” of the past.
“The brief reads like it was written by an Obama/Biden/Anti-mining/Anti-oil/Anti-development coalition,” Thiessen’s statement reads. “Unfortunately, these arguments can be cited repeatedly by the next Democratic administration as it seeks to unravel this administration’s laudable progress in moving forward so many energy/mining/development projects.”
From where Northern Dynasty is sitting, the unraveling has already begun, at least in a financial sense. The company’s stock took a nosedive after the DOJ filed its brief on Tuesday, according to one financial news outlet. At one point Wednesday morning, the share price had dropped as much as 45 percent. It then saw a slight rebound and was down 37.44 percent by Wednesday afternoon.
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