While Alaskans are looking ahead to a bright future for Bristol Bay, Gov. Mike Dunleavy continues to look backward and is seeking to keep the proposed Pebble mine project alive through dubious legal tactics. The latest example of this is the state s appeal of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision to deny a key Clean Water Act permit for the project. The appeal is wrong on the law. It is wrong on science. And it is wrong for Alaskans.
Let us start with the legal arguments. The applicable regulations specify that only the party denied a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit can file an administrative appeal of that decision. Corps of Engineers guidance on the appeal process is equally specific, the process provides permit applicants with an opportunity to seek a timely and objective reconsideration of an adverse permit decision, and there is no third-party involvement in the appeal process itself. This is black and white. Moreover, the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP), the
Dunleavy appeals Pebble permit denial January 14th |
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is appealing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision to deny a permit for the proposed Pebble mine, back in November.
The state s Department of Law will file an administrative appeal with the federal government, according to a media release.
In that release, Dunleavy calls the denial a dangerous precedent that would harm Alaska s future. His Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige echoed that sentiment in the release, saying that it has ominous implications for our rights as a state to develop our resources for the benefit of all Alaskans.
Credit U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is appealing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s decision to deny a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine, back in November.
The state’s Department of Law will file an administrative appeal with the federal government, according to a media release.
In that release, Dunleavy calls the denial a “dangerous precedent” that would harm Alaska’s future. His Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige echoed that sentiment in the release, saying that it has “ominous implications for our rights as a state to develop our resources for the benefit of all Alaskans.”
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A group of shareholders has filed a class action lawsuit against Northern Dynasty, claiming the company and its directors misled shareholders about the viability of the proposed Pebble Mine and that its stock prices were artificially inflated between 21 December, 2017, and 25 November, 2020.
Northern Dynasty is the parent company of the Pebble Limited Partnership, which owns the mineral rights to the Pebble deposit and has been promoting the mine to investors and engaging in the permitting process with Alaska s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
On 25 November, the Corps denied the permit application, stating the proposal did not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines. The stock took a nosedive of more than 50 percent immediately following the announcement. The permit process had been considered all but dead before the 2016 election of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, whose administration allegedly negotiated with Pebble officials to allow the permitting process to run its cou
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When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the Pebble Limited Partnership a federal permit to develop a mine under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, it surprised people on both sides of the issue.
“I was ecstatic. I was elated. I was so happy to hear that it was finally over,” said Billy Trefon Jr. from Nondalton, one of the villages closest to where the mine would have been built.
To the south, in Iliamna, Lisa Reimers, the CEO of Iliamna Development Corporation, said people feel hopeless.
Well, we feel like it was we were lied to by the Army Corps because they said politics wouldn’t be involved. And it ended up being politics, she said. The Army stated they’d recommend to build a mine, then out of nowhere they changed their minds.”