Alaska Native Organizations Sue the EPA Over Pre-Emptive Veto of Pebble Mine

June 25, 2024

In an effort to keep the Biden administration from doing more damage to Alaska’s future economy, two Alaska Native corporations have sued the EPA.

The reason for their suit is the EPA’s pre-emptive veto of the proposed Pebble Mine project in Southwest Alaska.  The plaintiffs contend the EPA’s actions were illegal, and want the courts to uphold the decades-old NEPA process as the overarching rule of law. 

That process – culminating in a final environmental impact statement in June, 2020 – showed the proposed copper, gold, molybdenum and rhenium mine would not harm the nearby Bristol Bay fishery.  That fishery is placed as sacrosanct by environmentalists and commercial fishing interests; much more important than Pebble’s potential impact to domestic supply chains.

But the Indigenous Alaskans living in villages closest to the project have worked hand-in-hand with the Pebble Limited Partnership, and know what economic benefits the mine would bring to the region.  With the EPA’s actions, the potential for generational jobs were put in deep freeze.

So the Alaska Peninsula Corporation and Iliamna Natives Ltd. are suing.  And Power The Future – a vocal and consistent proponent of Pebble – hope they prevail.