rare provision of the clean water act to basically veto any mining that could pose a threat. epa scientists writing a mine would result in complete loss of fish habitat that was irreversible. it s mind-boggling that it s still being considered at all. reporter: christine todd whitman is a republican, a former new jersey governor and, under president george w. bush, ran the epa. she has joined several other former epa chiefs to publicly oppose the mine. the potential damage is so overwhelming. the opposition to it up there is amazing. over 80 miles of streams, thousands of acres, could be damaged from this project. reporter: this is the second time during the trump administration the political appointees at the epa have decided to remove special protections for bristol bay to pave the way for this huge mine. in 2017, president trump s first epa administrator, scand
tonight we re learning that a major new reversal on u.s. environmental policy may have involved president trump. cnn has exclusive details of an air force one meeting that could throw out more than a decade of scientific warnings about a controversial copper and gold mine. cnn s senior investigative correspondent drew griffin reports. reporter: the meeting took place on the tarmac during an air force one stopover june 26th. alaska governor mike dunleavy, a pro-mining, pro-business, anti-epa governor met with donald trump for nearly a half hour. just got off of air force one with being with president trump. reporter: dunleavy has been pushing for approval of a massive gold and copper mine known as the pebble mine. planned for alaska s briftal bay watershed, home to the breeding grounds for one of the largest and most pristine sockeye salmon fisheries. and after his meeting aboard air
alaskans. you ll have a host of lawsuits. i am convinced. reporter: alaska s governor mike dunleavy elected last fall is a huge trump supporter. he s met with president trump multiple times. sent this letter to the president asking for a long list of epa reversals, including what he called the clean water 404 veto. a direct reference to pebble mine. a member of his staff used to work on the pebble project in public relations. and at epa headquarters, andrew wheeler, the former coal company lobbyist who now runs the agency, has a tie to pebble mine, too. he has recused himself from decision-making on the project because his former law firm represents the mine. in response to this report, the epa said those obama-era protections were outdated, and this mine would still have to go through approval process. our sources are telling us it s really a done deal. and when we asked the epa about that internal meeting on june 27th, at first the epa denied it even happened, but then we
bristol bay in alaska is one of the world s great habitats for salmon. it could be in danger now that the trump administration has cleared the way for the construction of a new gold mine. a meeting on the president s plane, air force one, set everything in motion. cnn s senior investigative correspondent drew griffin has the exclusive details. reporter: the meeting took place on the tarmac during an air force one stopover june alaska governor mike dunleavy, pro mining, pro business, anti-epa governor met with donald trump for nearly half an hour. just got off of air force one meeting with president trump. reporter: he has been pushing for a massive gold and copper mine known as the pebble mine. home to the breeding grounds for one of the world s largest and most pristine sakai salmon
the obama era epa used a rare provision of the clean water act to basically veto any mining that could pose a threat. epa scientists righting a mine would result in complete loss of fish habitat that s irreversible. it s mind boggling. christine todd whitman is a former head of the epa. she has joined several other former epa chiefs to publicly oppose the mine. the potential damage is so overwhe overwhelming. the opposition to it up there is so amazing. over 80 miles of streams, thousands of acres could be damaged from this project. reporter: this is the second time during the trump administration the political appointees at the epa have decided to remove special protections for bristol bay to pave the way for this mine.