Feds use rare veto to block Alaska copper, gold mine plan
By BECKY BOHRER and PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has effectively vetoed a proposed copper and gold mine in a remote region of southwest Alaska that supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. The move was heralded by Alaska Native tribes and environmentalists who have long fought the proposed Pebble Mine. Pebble Limited Partnership CEO John Shively criticized the EPA’s move and says litigation is likely. Tribes in the Bristol Bay region in 2010 petitioned the EPA to pursue protections for the area under the federal Clean Water Act. The proposed mine is in an area that is a trove of minerals coveted by mining interests.
