ANCHORAGE, AK—SalmonState today applauded the issuance of a series of safeguards by the Environmental Protection Agency that will protect the headwaters of salmon-rich Bristol Bay, Alaska, and prevent the construction and operation of the open pit mine. Pebble proposal.
EPA’s Final Determination concludes a science-based deliberative process through the Clean Water Act originally called for by Bristol Bay area tribal governments 13 years ago. Under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, EPA determined whether the proposed massive Pebble Mine could be built and operated without destroying critical wetlands and waterways for salmon. The science laid out in the documents clearly shows that the answer is “no.”
Bristol Bay is home to the largest remaining sockeye salmon run on the planet. In 2022, Bristol Bay broke records for the third consecutive year, with a return of nearly 80 million sockeye salmon.
“Today’s decision may be the most popular thing the federal government has ever done for Alaska,” SalmonState CEO Tim Bristol said. “Thousands of Alaskans and more than a million Americans from across the political spectrum have called for the protection of Bristol Bay’s one-of-a-kind salmon resource from massive strip mining, and today, the EPA delivered.”
“This is a victory for everyone from Bristol Bay tribal citizens, commercial fishermen, sport fishermen, business leaders, chefs, scientists and many more who have spoken out over the years, and we thank the EPA. already Biden. Administration by this well-regarded, heavily documented and overwhelmingly popular movement,” Bristol continued.
“These EPA restrictions and bans, along with the recently completed Pedro Bay conservation initiative, bring a strong sense of relief, but we will not rest until the threat of large-scale, open-pit, acid-waste mining completely removed from the world. headwaters of Bristol Bay,” Bristol said. “This will require vision and leadership from our decision makers, and we look forward to working with them to achieve this goal.”
SalmonState works to keep Alaska a place where wild salmon and the people who depend on them thrive.