Six people described as familiar with their plans told Politico on Saturday that the Trump administration has plans to block a proposed copper and gold mine near the headwaters of a major U.S. salmon fishery in Alaska
The Trump administration plans to block a proposed copper and gold mine near the headwaters of a major U.S. salmon fishery in Alaska, six people described as familiar with their plans told Politico on Saturday.
The rejection of the administration of the Pebble Mine project is expected to come after Trump faced pressure to stop GOP mega-donor Andy Sabin, Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reports Politico.
“With any government, whether it’s Obama or Trump, nothing is certain until it happens, and that’s just the nature of this beast,” Sabin, who spoke with the president about the proposed mine, said in an interview. with Politico. “But I’m pretty sure you’ll get good news.”
On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the project said a decision on whether it should continue could still be weeks away if work continues on a wetlands mitigation plan. Mike Heatwole, with the Pebble Limited Partnership, told The Associated Press that the company is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to finalize the plan. The agency returned messages looking for comment Saturday.
Pebble Limited Partnership CEO Tom Collier disputes the Politico report,
“We are of the opinion that the implication driven by Politico that the White House will murder the project is clearly a mistake, probably made by a hurry to publish instead of doing the necessary diligence to track down the full story,” he said. Collier in a statement. “We categorically reject all reports that the Trump administration will return to an Obama-like approach that allowed politics to interfere with the normal, traditional redundancy process. This president clearly believes in keeping politics on leave – something. conservatives and the business community fully support. “
The head of one of the nation’s largest environmental groups said he believes the Trump administration will stop the project.
“Pebble Mine has always been the wrong mine in the wrong place,” Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said in a statement, “This decision marks an important step to save Alaska Bay – the world’s most important salmon fishery supporting more than 14,000 jobs – from billions of gallons of toxic tailings relentlessly leaching into its turbulent waters. for making the right decision today. “
Politico reports that three officials say the Army Corps of Engineers office in Alaska plans to hold a conference call Monday with groups affiliated with the proposed mine to discuss the decision. Politico says an official from the administration confirmed the call.
The report of a decision to stop the project comes despite an environmental review that saw the developer of the Pebble Mine so strongly in his favor.
The final environmental assessment of the project’s corps in southwest Alaska, which was released in late July, stated that under normal operations, the alternatives it saw “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers and result in long-term changes to the health of the commercial fishery in Bristol Bay. ”The corps emphasized that the review was not a decision document.
Pebble critics have dismissed the corps’ review as inadequate, while the Pebble Limited Partnership, which is trying to develop the mine and is owned by Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., saw it as laying the groundwork for approval. .
Pebble critics saw public support at last for their case of Donald Trump Jr. and Nick Ayers, a former vice president of Vice President Mike Pence and a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, who promoted the security corner. Collier has played down the president’s efforts to promote development.
“Every other major project developer and investor in the world is considering whether this administration will deliver on its commitment to eliminate political influence by allowing it,” Collier said in early August.
The mine, long a source of controversy and litigation, was seen by many as getting a second wind under the Trump administration. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under the previous Obama administration, proposed restricting development in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska, which it described as supporting the world’s largest sockeye fishery and containing important minerals sources. Salmon is also an important part of the culture of Alaska Natives who call the region home.
But the agency never finalized the restrictions and under the Trump administration, the Pebble partnership continued with permission.
Pebble praised the move, arguing that his project should be allowed by a permitting process and not vetoed in advance. Mine critics, however, feared that politics would get in the way of science.
.
