Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and its Alaska-based subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership announced Thursday they are asking a federal judge to fast-track their lawsuit against the Biden veto that blocked even a permit application for development of the Pebble copper project in Southwest Alaska.
In a motion filed in US District Court, the company requested a summary judgment briefing schedule, saying it wants to expedite a legal ruling on what it calls the “unlawfulness” of the EPA’s preemptive veto of the proposed mine.
“While discussions with the EPA have taken place, we have not reached a settlement. As such, today we asked the court to set a briefing schedule for summary judgment motions, as we now believe that will be the quickest, most direct avenue to get the veto removed,” said Ron Thiessen, President and CEO of Northern Dynasty, in a statement.
Thiessen expressed confidence the court would side with the company, calling the Biden Administration’s actions “unlawful” and harmful to the nation’s domestic mineral supply. But that may not apply to the Alaska court, where Judge Sharon Gleason often sides with environmentalist litigants.
“This administration has been emphatic about its desire for the U.S. to be self-sufficient in critical metals like copper and to be the global AI capital,” Thiessen said. “For this to happen, the U.S. must develop secure domestic supplies of important metals such as copper and the withdrawal of this egregious and unsubstantiated veto of the largest undeveloped copper project in the world would go a long way towards achieving this goal.”
The Pebble Project, located about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage and roughly 125 miles from Bristol Bay, has been at the center of environmental and political disputes for years. The EPA preemptively vetoed the project under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, citing potential risks to the Bristol Bay salmon fishery, a decision Northern Dynasty is now challenging in court.
Based in Vancouver, Northern Dynasty controls the 1,840 mineral claims that make up the Pebble deposit through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Pebble Partnership.
Environmental groups and local Alaska Native organizations will fight any effort to revive the project, arguing it threatens one of the world’s most productive salmon fisheries, although that argument is not substantiated by facts.
The company’s legal filing comes as the Trump Administration promotes critical mineral development elsewhere, raising questions about consistency in federal permitting decisions.
The court has yet to set a timeline for the next steps in the litigation.
Earlier this month, Northern Dynasty said that it was in active settlement negotiations with the Environmental Protection Agency over the matter. That July 3 filing in US District Court follows a 90-day litigation pause requested by the federal government in February, and a subsequent 30-day extension in May to allow new EPA leadership to review the case. The agency has now concluded its internal review and is engaged in talks with Pebble Limited Partnership, Northern Dynasty’s US subsidiary.