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.
I sure hope something happens with this. The best line in this article: “although that argument is not substantiated by facts”. This is not meant to be a racist comment but sometimes it seems that a lot of native people are just ignorant. Somebody convinces them that X will cause Y and they just believe without further study. They have been duped by the fake environmental argument but they aren’t stupid–if we could just get them to listen to the truth.
Pebble will destroy the most productive fishery on the planet so that what… 50 guys can have mining jobs for a few decades, and then what??? Do you think destroying everything just to make a few investors even richer is worth it for the rest of us? Please explain.
Speaking of idiotic comments….
Thanks for playing.
Every day that passes, Pebble gets closer to reality. Trump made a mistake the first time around, not unlike all his appointment mistakes. He’s not going to make the same mistakes two times in a row. Cheers –
Last year the Bering Sea pollack fishery had a quota of 1,263,580 metric tonnes, Bristol Bay red salmon totaled 76,616 metric tonnes, the Togiak herring fishery historically caught as much if not more than the Bristol Bay red salmon fishery. The Bristol Bay red salmon fishery isn’t even close to the most productive fishery in the world, let alone in the region. I’d be interested in how you’d explain your use of the terms “destroy the most productive fishery on the planet” when this is demonstrably false and what “everything” you are referring to when you ask about “destroying everything”?
Another Biden SNAFU, in support of environmental wackoism, and failure to develop mineral needs for national security. Trump could just as easily reverse the EPA’s prior ruling under Biden and circumvent the federal court, which the US Supreme Court encourages him to do.
Rick; This week we learned the Trump Administration will defend the actions that protect Bristol Bay.
We’re grateful President Trump stood with Alaskans and with fisherman nationwide. This decision puts the people of America first, ahead of the interests of a foreign mining company.
Foreign owned pebble is not contesting Army Corp of Engineers permit veto.
In the mean time, Northern Dynasty (pebble LTD) has to pay 196 million dollars to investors for Security’s Fraud of which they plead guilty to on top of 6.3 million already paid.
3rd,
You are of course aware the that the Army Corp rejected the appeal to the denial of the key wetlands permit and did so based upon the EPA’s 2023 veto…and that was when the EPA and the Army Corp were sued by Pebble, you were aware of that right? If and when the EPA veto is tossed it allows Pebble to go back to the Army Corp, as you know…or should have known.
Steve; Bout time you showed up.
President Trump has and will always direct federal agencies to protect BB from the largest copper mine in the world.
Pebble’s lawsuit was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court and are only beginning to file in the lower courts, district, appeals and a final rejection again in the Supreme Court which could take a very long time.
A mud puddle in a back yard (Sackett vs EPA) is a lot different than the BB watershed.
Remember Steve, FAA and Coastguard permits will also be required.
Summarize; If pebble actually produces copper ingots, I will buy you a cigar and a bottle of your favorite whisky.
It sure takes a lot to get through the bureaucracy huh. Thankfully President Trump has issued numerous Executive Orders about such things, all of which I’m certain you are familiar with…
EO 14153: Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential
EO 14154: Unleashing American Energy
EO 14192: Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation
EO 14213: Establishing the National Energy Dominance Council
EO 14220: Addressing the Threat to National Security From Imports of Copper
EO 14241: Immediate Measures To Increase American Mineral Production
EO 14262: Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid
EO 14265: Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base
EO 14269: Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance
EO 14272: Ensuring National Security and Economic Resilience Through Section 232 Actions on Processed Critical Minerals and Derivative Products
EO 14275: Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement
What does any of that have to do with Trump stopping the worlds largest copper mine on the BB watershed?
You should read them and inform yourself, the title of each one pretty well spells out the subject matter for you. Or you can continue making uninformed comments…you do you.
3rd GA says: “Summarize; If pebble actually produces copper ingots, I will buy you a cigar and a bottle of your favorite whisky.”
You better warm up your credit card, as this rare earth mine is a lot closer than you think. Cheers –
Thats what the uneducated pro foreign pebbler’s said 30 years ago, Lol.
The greatest risk to Alaska fisheries is not mining projects such as this (or many others in Alaska) but rather the Trawler Industry.
And the hatcheries dumping a couple billion pink fry into the salt every year. Cheers –
So you can see the destruction of the most productive fishery on Planet Earth for nothing. Brilliant!
Won’t be for nothing. It will be for a trillion dollar rare earth find.
And the notion that single mine under today’s environmental rules can and willingly will do that sort of environmental damage is laughably stupid. Your “most productive fishery on Planet Earth” is being economically destroyed by the entire rest of the world that has made the transition to fish farming over the last 35 years while we here in AK are navel gazing hoping for better results. The best example of this is the destruction of king runs statewide. Brilliant, indeed. Cheers –
Which fishery are you talking about and how do you imagine it’s destruction taking place considering this proposed mine is situated on a small tributary of one river system in a multiriver system area?
Fishing publications reporting Trump will defend his administration’s 2020 decision by ACE to deny pebble permit. Should be interesting to hear from Dunleavy. Wonder how the 700 billion law suit is going.
Your fishing publications are as usual wrong. I think the lawsuit will match up nicely with the need for rare earths. Cheers –
apparently Robert Allan Dickinson, Non-Executive Chairman, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. believed them. He dumped 700,000 shares along with other ND insiders. Maybe Mining. Com got it wrong also.
You probably didn’t notice the stock price when those orders went through did you? Some of us did.
I did Steve. Thiessen got out on top. Several others sold than bought in again for lower price. Classic insider trading. Waiting for the second class action law suit brought by stockholders. Do you have a point.
By contract there are key points where insiders must sell certain shares as part of their compensation, happens all the time. You didn’t notice what the stock has done over the past few months or where it was when the sales were made, until it was pointed out to you or you would have already pointed it out, it’s OK you know now.
Who’s Dunleavy?
Further rocky road for Pebble
Pebble never even had a chance to submit a mine plan.
The EPA shut them down because they didn’t like them.
The locals were bombarded with propaganda, along with everyone else.
Several operatives were placed in Alaska and in the Villages.
Now, you can’t shut down an operation if you don’t even have any idea how they plan to develop it.
Usually, it will be looked at, considered and possible changes will be required.
But, it never gets shut down as out-of-hand.
Not without the development plan.
Justice delayed is justice denied.