Pebble mine news roundup
Recent Pebble news focuses on the EPA peer review meeting, held Aug. 7-9, and heated political discussions on whether the EPA is moving too soon have gone nationwide. The November elections could affect the future of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Pebble plans move to mine permitting within months (Aug. 14, Associated Press, via Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
The group seeking to develop a large gold-and-copper prospect in the Bristol Bay region is on track to release a mine plan later this year or early next year.
Congressional GOP members fear EPA will halt Pebble early (Aug. 10, Anchorage Daily News)
Congressional Republicans are lining up against the possibility that the Environmental Protection Agency would block the proposed Pebble mine in the Bristol Bay area, a region that produces about half the world’s wild sockeye salmon.
Industry, GOP fear power-grab by EPA in Alaska mine decision (Aug. 15, The Hill)
Industry groups and Republican lawmakers fear the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is poised to set a new precedent in Alaska that could make it harder for companies to obtain mining permits near sensitive habitats.
Bristol Bay Native Corporation CEO Jason Metrokin is quoted, saying the EPA has the legal authority to protect salmon.
Wonder about how the presidential election might change the EPA?
Mitt Romney’s EPA would likely look familiar (May 7, Politico)
Mitt Romney isn’t certain about climate change, wants to reverse or halt a handful of the Obama administration’s environmental policies and would put the interests of business – and Congress – before the will of one of the executive branch’s most embattled agencies.
But what really happens at Romney’s Environmental Protection Agency?