Alaska mining project CEO criticizes U.S. EPA veto suggestion

Northern Dynasty Minerals

02/12/2022 16:05

Dec 2 (Reuters) - The top boss of a proposed Alaskan
mine, which has been through a roller coaster of regulations for
the past 15 years, called the recommendation that the U.S.
environmental agency should veto the project a "massive
regulatory overreach".
    Mining waste from the Pebble Mine project, which has one of
the world's largest copper and gold deposits, would threaten
Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed, home to important salmon species
including the world's largest sockeye salmon fisheries that have
supported critical wildlife and a multibillion-dollar industry,
according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
    Late Thursday, the EPA's Pacific Northwest region, which
includes Alaska, recommended the project should be vetoed.
    In response, Pebble Limited Partnership chief executive John
Shively on Friday called the EPA's suggestion "wildly
speculative" and "not supported by any defensible data", adding
the agency was acting outside the authority given to it by
Congress.
    The EPA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for
comment.
    Pebble Limited Partnership is the main subsidiary of
Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd  NDM.TO .
 (Reporting by Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna
Chandra Eluri)
 ((Ruhi.Soni@thomsonreuters.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ruhithere))