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Sockeye salmon. (Photo Credit: NOAA)
EPA starts action to shelter Bristol Bay salmon fishery
UNITED STATES
Tuesday, March 04, 2014, 04:00 (GMT + 9)
In an attempt to protect the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska from the potentially destructive impacts of Pebble Mine, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has refused to approve its permit while a review process is carried out.
This process, requested by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, has been initiated under the Clean Water Act, which “authorizes EPA to restrict, prohibit, deny, or withdraw the use of an area as a disposal site for dredged or fill material if the discharge will have unacceptable adverse effects on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas.”
McCarthy remarked: “Extensive scientific study has given us ample reason to believe that the Pebble Mine would likely have significant and irreversible negative impacts on the Bristol Bay watershed and its abundant salmon fisheries. It’s why EPA is taking this step forward in our effort to ensure protection for the world’s most productive salmon fishery from the risks it faces from what could be one of the largest open pit mines on earth. This process is not something the Agency does very often, but Bristol Bay is an extraordinary and unique resource.”
This action follows its January 2014 release Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska, a study that documents the significant ecological resources of the region and the potentially destructive impacts to salmon and other fish from potential large-scale copper mining of the Pebble Deposit. The assessment indicates that the proposed Pebble Mine would likely cause irreversible destruction of streams that support salmon and other important fish species, as well as extensive areas of wetlands, ponds and lakes.
Bristol Bay ecosystem, which generates hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity and provides employment for over 14,000 full and part-time workers, produces nearly 50 percent of the world’s wild sockeye salmon. The region supports all five species of Pacific salmon found in North America: sockeye, coho, chinook, chum, and pink. In addition, it is home to more than 20 other fish species, 190 bird species, and more than 40 terrestrial mammal species, including bears, moose, and caribou.
According to the information provided by The Pebble Partnership and Northern Dynasty Minerals, mining the Pebble deposit may involve excavation of the largest open pit ever constructed in North America and the disposal of mining waste may require the construction of three or more massive earthen tailings dams as high as 650 feet.
EPA has received over 850,000 requests from citizens, tribes, Alaska Native corporations, commercial and sport fisherman, jewelry companies, seafood processors, restaurant owners, chefs, conservation organizations, members of the faith community, sport recreation business owners, elected officials and others asking EPA to take action to protect Bristol Bay.
Katherine Carscallen, Sustainability Director for the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, pointed out: "The EPA has clearly listened to our voices, and we are pleased they are responding to the request for Clean Water Act protections we made four years ago. There are still many steps in the process before the threat of building mines like Pebble in Bristol Bay is fully put to rest, but we are pleased this first and necessary step has been taken.”
Related articles:
- Pebble mine poses risks to Bristol Bay salmon, EPA concludes
- Anglo American to drop out of Pebble Mine project
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