Pebble Mine: Trump administration says massive Alaska gold mine won't cause major environmental harm

Source: Washington Post

Trump administration says massive Alaska gold mine won’t cause major environmental harm, reversing Obama

The Pebble Mine, which would be the largest in North America, was halted by the Obama administration out of concern it would irreversibly damage the famous sockeye salmon fishery.

By Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis
7/24/2020, 3:55:33 p.m.

Trump officials concluded Friday that a proposed gold and copper mine in Alaska — which would be the largest in North America — would not pose serious environmental risks, a sharp reversal from a finding by the Obama administration that it would permanently harm the region’s prized sockeye salmon.

The official about-face regarding the bitterly contested project epitomizes the whiplash that has come to define environmental policy under President Trump, who has methodically dismantled many of his predecessor’s actions on climate change, conservation and pollution.

A final environmental analysis issued Friday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found that Pebble Mine, which targets a deposit of gold, copper and other minerals worth up to $500 billion, “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers” in the Bristol Bay watershed that supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.

The Obama administration, which looked at multiple project scenarios, concluded in 2014 that a major mine in the area could cause irreparable harm.

The bitter fight over Pebble Mine has raged for nearly two decades. Halted by the last administration, the project has been fast tracked under Trump and is poised to get final federal approval by the end of the year. But a coalition of local residents and national environmental groups will challenge the permit in court, and the next administration could block it once again if Democrats win the White House in the fall.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/07/24/pebble-mine-alaska-trump/