EPA Proposes Limits on Alaska Mine Project

The Environmental Protection Agency Friday proposed restrictions on a large copper-and-gold mine slated for a watershed in southwest Alaska that has pitted environmental groups against business regarding the EPA’s authority to veto such projects.

At issue for the Pebble Mine near Bristol Bay’s watershed is whether the EPA can veto a needed Clean Water Act permit. The proposal comes with a comment period that ends Sept. 19. If finalized, it could invite legal action from the mine’s backers on an issue that has attracted the attention of congressional Republicans.

Republicans and industry say the EPA can’t veto the project because the developer, Pebble LP, has not filed a formal blueprint. The House has held hearings on the project, and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has subpoenaed the EPA for documents. Some Democrats, commercial fishermen, native tribes and environmental groups say it can because the EPA has an outline of the mine’s parameters based on Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

“This is not a pre-emptive veto,” Dennis McLerran, regional administrator for EPA Region 10, said in a media call in response to criticisms from industry and Republicans that the EPA was planning to reject the Clean Water Act permit even though Pebble LP hadn’t yet submitted an application.

McLerran, speaking of the years-long delay by developers to file an application, said, “the amount of uncertainly that has hung over the Bristol Bay watershed is a consideration” in the step the agency outlined Friday.

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