Pebble Partnership announced Tuesday that the company has created the Pebble Performance Dividend (PPD) to distribute a percentage of the revenue generated from the operation of a mine at Pebble to year-round residents of Bristol Bay.
Qualifying residents will get a 3 percent share of company’s revenues. During the first few years of the capital investment recovery phase, a $3 million fund will be set up to be distributed annually to the residents who join the program.
If 3,000 residents register for the program, the PPD will distribute $1,000 dollars to qualified participants once construction begins, money that will come from the $3 million initial fund.
“When we rolled out our new, smaller mine plan in 2017, I made a commitment to find a way to share the opportunity Pebble represents with the residents of Bristol Bay,” said Tom Collier, Pebble Partnership CEO. “While not everyone will want to work at the mine, this ensures a direct way for everyone to participate. Whether a resident supports the project, opposes it, or is neutral, anyone who is a year-round resident can participate. However, year-round residents who want to share in this opportunity must register their interest.”
PLP created a web portal for Bristol Bay residents to register and learn more about the opportunity – www.pebbledividend.com .
Once fully operational and profitable, the PPD will distribute 3% of the net profits from the mine to registered Bristol Bay residents.
Residency, governance and distribution will be overseen by an advisory board comprised of well-known Alaskans John Shively and Willie Hensley along with residents from the region.
All Bristol Bay residents who register via the web portal before July 31 will be eligible for a drawing for an annual early Pebble Performance Dividend beginning this year and payable through the start of construction. Five early dividend winners will be chosen from the group of eligible participants registered by July 31 . The web portal will remain open for registration until August 31 .
“Developing a mine at Pebble will provide jobs, economic activity, local tax revenue and infrastructure. Today we are adding one more way residents of the region can directly benefit from Pebble via our revenue sharing plan,” said Collier.
Collier further noted that federal permitting is nearing conclusion with an Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expected this summer.
Lisa already sold out the people that put her in office. Might as well get something out of pebble. Better than nothing.
And the Dutch bought the island of Manhattan for 60 Guilders, or about $1000 in today’s money…
“Once fully operational and profitable” the money will be distributed to “registered “ Bristol Bay Residents”.
Very interesting words with an unclear meaning of what they mean. The mine is fine. But I am skeptical about this type of approach and just how likely the promise will come true. There is absolutely nothing guaranteed here. Nada, nothing. It appears to be a cousin to a cheap trick/ bribe to get support from those who have been in opposition. I will wager that it will backfire.
I wish they would retro it back 7 years.
It means registered votors. That includes teachers that get the PFD.
From the pebbledividend.com website: As the first several years of development will not yield profits, there will be a minimum $3,000,000 annual fund payment for distribution among all eligible participants during that time (for example, 3,000 registered participants equal an estimated $1,000 dividend per person). Estimated dividend allotments will vary depending on the number of annual participants. Once capital costs have been recovered, recipient income will equal 3% Net Profit Interest (NPI).
Additionally, the dividends will be paid when construction begins and continue through operations. Hope this helps.
No disrespect to John Shively and Wilie Hensley, but do they really think they will be around by the time Pebble Mine is fully operational and profitable?
I see the benefits to the local residents here. But it seems like money from mine proceeds (basically taxes on the mining operation) should go to the permanent fund in the same way oil taxes do. The major benefit to the people in the area should be the good jobs & local economic benefits that come from that. This is resource development, just like oil, the benefits should be shared by the whole people of Alaska.
My only other comment is we need to be cautious about creating infrastructure, based on mining proceeds, which will require support long after the mine is gone, which we will then no longer be able to afford. We see that with reduced oil revenues today.
Let’s be frank here; mining contributes a tiny amount of money to the State of Alaska, destroys the environment in which it is practiced, and ends up leaving behind an impoverished, unemployed citizenry when it pulls out, which it will do when the mine becomes uneconomical.
If you would like a huge Superfund site in Bristol Bay, a devastated salmon population, and an enormous, fragile, avalanche-likely tailings pond sited on an earthquake fault, then the Pebble is for you. The Canadian company that owns Pebble will thank you for you support.
Does no one remember Zobels? Remember the fight over who was eligible for PFD’s? First, the individual PFD was to be calculated by longevity in Alaska. There were strict rules for just who would qualify and for how much, depending on how long that person had lived in Alaska. Sounded pretty good to those born in or moved to Alaska at a young age. Then, along came Zobels, a lawyer couple with a penchant for their “fair share” of the PFD, even though they were newcomers, and they effectively stopped the PFD in court. Finally, as a “settlement” judgement, the PFD was to be qualified for with the current formula (better than none). Everyone gets the same share, no matter if the newcomer has only been here since year before last.
The point is, looking at a map, Dillingham is about the same distance from the Pebble mine site as Kenai, and very nearly Anchorage. Bristol Bay is further west. What is fair for the PFD is fair for Pebble mine, isn’t it? Same state. Same government. Same citizens residency. Why the select group to receive financial gain from Pebble and not the rest of Alaskans? Just like the PFD. Something stinks and I don’t think it is the outhouses around Pebble mine yet. The financial gain from jobs at Pebble will go overwhelmingly to residents in the area, not Alaskans in more distant locations, like Kenai or Petersburg or Fairbanks or Nome, for instance . Now, a share of Pebble, just by living somewhere near Bristol Bay? Can I move there and collect, as an Alaskan? Prohibiting financial equality for Alaskans based on proximity to the resource or ethnicity is pretty ‘racy’, isn’t it? If a resource in Alaska is to be shared by Alaskans, it should be all Alaskans that receive the same share, or none.
Way to buy off the locals. We can all see right through ‘a commitment to share the opportunity.’ Silencing them now and preventing them from bringing up future complaints with money is actually what you’re doing. What a bunch of snakes.
Snakes they are. “Here’s a sop for you to suck on while we suck the life out of your world.”
Sad thing is, many will buy into this trap. Alaska did when Big Oil came to town.
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