Alaska Sues EPA Over Pebble Mine Prohibitions
Alaska has sued the Environmental Protection Agency, seeking to overturn an agency decision it said blocked development of one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits. The complaint filed in an Anchorage federal court challenges the EPA’s 2023 final determination that prohibited the discharge of mining waste from the so-called Pebble deposit into Bristol Bay. The EPA said it was concerned mining waste would degrade the watershed and harm important fishing ecosystems. The state said the agency’s decision would deny it billions in revenues from taxes and royalties and called the move “a blatant affront to the sovereignty” of the state. The State said the decision arbitrarily failed to properly consider costs and benefits of its decision in violation of federal administrative law and exceeded its authority under the federal Clean Water Act. It asked the court to set aside the determination and declare the EPA violated those laws. The case is Alaska v. US Environmental Protection Agency, in the US District Court for the District of Alaska, case No. 3:24-cv-00084.
www.alaskaminers.org I The Alaska Miner I May 2024
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