Government blocks proposed mine that threatened Alaska salmon fishery

The Trump administration on Wednesday denied a permit for a controversial gold and copper mine near the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery in south-west Alaska . The army corps of engineers said in a statement that the permit application to build the Pebble Mine was denied under both the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act. The corps said the discharge plan from the Pebble Limited Partnership, the mine’s backers, did not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines. The agency “concluded that the proposed project is contrary to the public interest”, according to the statement from Col Damon Delarosa, commander of the corps’ Alaska district. The Pebble partnership CEO, John Shively, said he was dismayed, especially after the corps had indicated in an environmental impact statement in July that the mine and fishery could coexist. “One of the real tragedies of this decision is the loss of economic opportunities for people living in the area,“ Shively said in a statement. The environmental review “clearly describes those benefits, and now a politically driven decision has taken away the hope that many had for a better life. This is also a lost opportunity for the state’s […]

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