Dunleavy Plans Appeal of Politicized Pebble Mine Decision

January 11, 2021

Last Friday, Alaska’s Governor Michael J. Dunleavy announced that he planned to have Alaska formally appeal the US Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to deny the Pebble Project’s federal permit.

“The flawed decision by the Alaska District creates a dangerous precedent that will undoubtedly harm Alaska’s future and, any potential project can fall victim to the same questionable standards,” the Governor said in a prepared statement. “We have to prevent a federal agency, in this instance, the Alaska District of the Army Corps of Engineers, from using the regulatory process to effectively prevent the state from fulfilling a constitutional mandate to develop its natural resources.”

The proposed project, on State land, was given a clean final environmental impact statement (FEIS) by the Corps in late July 2020; clearing a path for a positive record of decision (RoD) and federal approval of the project.  Then, politics reared its ugly head, and the process was hijacked by a few well-positioned, weak-kneed conservatives.

Governor Dunleavy has shown a deft ability to work within regulatory guidelines to maximize responsible development opportunities, while keeping environmental stewardship front-and-center, throughout his time in office. With over a thousand full-time jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars for state coffers at stake, Power The Future applauds this action.