Along with the State of Alaska on Thursday suing the federal government over broken contracts relating to western Alaska mining prospects and land exchanges, the Pebble Partnership now is suing the Environmental Protection Agency and the federal government.
“We are filing litigation to fully contest the EPA’s unprecedented and unlawful actions against the Pebble Project,” the company said in a statement. “Since our objections to the politically motivated actions by the EPA have long fallen on deaf ears, we have sued the agency in federal court in Alaska to have our issues fairly and objectively heard,” the company said.
There are two separate litigation actions. In one, filed in the Federal District Court in Alaska, the company seeks to vacate the EPA veto of a development at Pebble.
“This is the main focus of our legal actions. We are confident that the court will vacate the EPA veto and allow permitting of the Pebble project to resume because, as we have previously stated, the veto violated the law and was arbitrary and capricious. The complaint in this action alleges, among many other points, the veto was issued in violation of various federal statutes regarding Alaska’s statehood rights and a land exchange approved by Congress; it was based on an overly broad legal interpretation of EPA’s jurisdiction which has since been over-ruled by the Supreme Court; its geographic scope exceeds that allowed by the statute; it was based on information previously developed by EPA in an illegal preemptive veto process that was designed to reach a predetermined result; and the factual basis stated to support the veto is directly contradicted by the July 2020 Environmental Impact Statement published by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”), which is an important part of the administrative record,” said Northern Dynasty, the 100% owner of the Pebble Partnership.
“The EPA has not demonstrated that either the development of the Pebble deposit will have unacceptable adverse effects under Section 404(c), or that there are any impacts to Bristol Bay fisheries that would justify the extreme measures in the final determination (veto),” the company said.
“Whatever authority the EPA may have under section 404(c), the general provision in the Clean Water Act cannot authorize the EPA to take action to block the specific economic activity that was Congress’s express purpose for granting these lands to the State of Alaska under the Cook Inlet Land Exchange,” Ron Thiessen, Northern Dynasty President and CEO, stated. “It cannot authorize the EPA to override the State’s regulatory preferences for the lands, or the State’s preference to allow modest use of some streams and wetlands in the vicinity of the Deposit to facilitate the extraction of the valuable critical minerals. This is just another example of gross EPA overreach of the powers granted to it by Congress.”
“The EPA has long sought to prevent the Pebble Project from having a detailed plan reviewed through the normal permitting process. We have noted throughout that EPA staff have recklessly pursued this attack on fair and due process for the Pebble Project,” the statement said.
In the latest of the EPA’s actions against the Pebble Project, it issued its final decision before the permitting process had concluded. The agency ignored any potential benefits that would come from responsible development of the Pebble deposit. The EPA has also blocked activity on nearly 200,000 acres of Alaska land – land specifically identified for possible mineral development, the company said, echoing the complaint by the State of Alaska.
“The most appropriate place to determine whether the project should advance remains within the regulatory process and without political interference. The USACE initiated an Environmental Impact Statement process for evaluating the Pebble Project and the EPA fully participated in this process as a cooperating agency. The conclusions asserted by the EPA in their veto are in direct contrast with the final EIS for the Pebble Project which clearly indicated the project could be developed without harm to the Bristol Bay fishery.
The company says it has a strong case.
“Not only were the EPA’s actions political and beyond their statutory authority, they fly in the face of the state’s ability to manage its land and resources- a right granted to it under the Alaska Statehood Act and one the state will also aggressively fight to protect,” the statement says.
The company also a “takings case” against the federal government to preserve our ability to seek compensation for a violation of our rights in line with the protections under the Fifth Amendment. There are procedural rules regarding takings cases that made it necessary to get this claim on file at this time.”
Good.
Yes sue the crap out of them and their bosses.
And the govmint will promote the idiots, because “they learned a valuable lesson.” We’ve seen this show before. Hogwash, they should be banned from further government employment.
Foreign owned pebble lost a security’s fraud case in June of 2023 after they’er CEO on secret tape recordings got caught saying the mine would be much larger than the smaller mine they proposed to EPA and Army C. to get the permits through easy’er but courts found in favor of investors for 6.4 million. That case will be used against pebble in all future court hearings along with 2,900 Bristol Bay permit holders entering the law suites, with enviromentalists.
The proposed gas line through Cook Inlet to power the mine will be challenged by ENSTAR customers because the natural gas is running out plus Pedro Bay Native Corporation won’t allow a would be gas line across their lands.
The 23 year old effort to establish several open pit mines at the head waters of BB has always been a crazy dream.
Tshe EPA needs to be defunded and downsized. It has accumulated far too much power, power that should not be wielded by unelected officials. The EPA has been pirated and weaponized by far left extremists to shut this country down.
Jim. No it has not. We are damn lucky to have their oversight, not just stopping the Pebble behemoth, but it preventing the rape, ruin and run miners and oilies that privatize the benefits and socialize the costs.
Jim; President Trump stopped the pebble mine through the Army Corp. of Engineers permitting process. EPA permit denial was an exclamation mark. Coast Guard permits are also required for gas line from Cook Inlet that would have powered the mine.
Besides, Alaska would have received next to nothing of the money made by Northern Dynasty’s defunct pebble. No jobs either as modern mining is almost all mechanized, no mining in the winter months………It’s over.
Frayed Knot.
EPA is a sham!!!
It is indeed. Look how they have identified PM2.5 as a primary concern and used it to bully the people into accepting its edicts, yet they care not at all about the nano particles that are intentionally sprayed on all of our heads, the plants and animals around us, and the food we eat. That part of the environment, which is of far greater significance, is of no concern.
It is no different for a mining project. They will manufacture a concern and magnify its purported significance in order to undermine any developments that they do not find agreeable with their political purposes.
Apparently you never breathed the air in our cities in the 60s.
Societal decay combined with political perversion(s) have changed what once was a legitimate organization into one that squandered their legitimacy.
Well, it’s about time. Well done Dunleavy and Thiessen. International investors in the North American mining industry are increasingly fleeing as further speculation there as internal political differences, hence turmoil, is dis-encentifying. Indeed return on any investment cannot await 15-20 years, particularly when illegality on the part of persons within federal agencies continues — brazenly. Were it the goal of the US to yield its sovereign control over key commodities to its adversaries, then fine. But if North Americans are serious about having a sound economic future, then it continues to be encumbrance upon Supreme Court judgments to penalise public officials for essentially acting in the interests of foreign adversarial governments.
Salmon last forever. Copper and gold are finite. Earthen dams can fail in earthquakes. It’s no more complicated than that.
I suspect that the proposed mine may actually be a bad idea unless they can dramatically change their plan of operation. However, to deny them the opportunity to go through the complete permitting process is reprehensible. Not only unconstitutional but chilling to any developers contemplating projects. The lawsuits are necessary.
“PEBBLE MINE” … Would make a great mining resource development project. Putting Alaskans to work, generating economic opportunity for Alaskan businesses, and producing tax royalties for Alaska.
How would they power the operation without gas pipeline that has been stopped by Pedro Bay Native Corporation’s forbidden use of their land?
Go around them.
The State owns the bed of Lake Illiamna.
Modularized Small or Micro “Nuclear Reactor” Power Plant.
EPA Marxist Administrator will be gone after Trump gets back in. Lawsuit will be settled with OK to restart Pebble, along with XL Pipeline Project and other climate hoax killing projects brought by wacko Biden and his mentally disturbed Democrat effing nutcases.
MAGA is for thinking, productive Americans.
Trump is the one that stopped the would be mine by Army Corp. of Engineers permit denial.
The security’s fraud case against pebble by investors with the investors winning has costed pebble 6.4 million and a great loss of trust. This case will be used against them in court.
He’ll be turned around in 2025, 3 Gen. Trump’s son convinced him to deny the permit because of Trump Junior’s friendship with a Bristol Bay guide outfitter. Won’t happen in 2025, because alliances are changing rapidly. Climate activists can only advance their hoax for so long before it becomes generally apparent that the climate hoax is generated by Marxists and their transformationalists. New conservative alliances are quietly at work. And the idiot Lisa Murkowski is going to get her deservedly ass kicked by Trump in 2025 and beyond too. Then, she can go join her Democrat Party and cry on her daddy’s shoulder.
I’ve said this before and I repeat myself: I understand how “lower 48” people cannot comprehend the SIZE of Alaska but for so many Alaskans to have the same myopic view always blows my mind. There is plenty of room for mines and development and STILL have amazing amounts of wilderness! I used to get a bang out of the Chicken Little story as a kid. I never figured it’d have real life meaning some day. The sky is NOT falling.
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