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Pebble is desperately pushing a mine Alaskans do not want
DILLINGHAM, AK – Local tribes, commercial fishermen and sportsmen are surprised that members of Congress seem to be falling for Pebble’s expensive propaganda campaign seeking to obscure the indisputable fact that over 80 percent of Bristol Bay residents, 60 percent of Alaskans, and over 1.5 million Americans spanning the political spectrum want to protect Bristol Bay from the Pebble proposal, which would be the world’s largest open pit mine.
Congressional hearing on EPA Action in Bristol Bay misses the point: Pebble is desperately pushing a mine Alaskans do not want
Alaskans respond to yesterday’s [November 5, 2015] congressional Pebble mine hearing
DILLINGHAM, AK – Local tribes, commercial fishermen and sportsmen are surprised that members of Congress seem to be falling for Pebble’s expensive propaganda campaign seeking to obscure the indisputable fact that over 80 percent of Bristol Bay residents, 60 percent of Alaskans, and over 1.5 million Americans spanning the political spectrum want to protect Bristol Bay from the Pebble proposal, which would be the world’s largest open pit mine.
One of Pebble’s tactics played out yesterday in Washington, D.C. where the Science, Space and Technology Committee took up the issue of Pebble’s “Cohen report” that has garnered the attention of a few congressmen and D.C. media.
“There is nothing wrong with Alaskans requesting that a government agency use their legal authority to protect our cultures, livelihoods and businesses from a foreign company who has been lying to us for a decade,” said Alannah Hurley, director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay. “For over 10 years, we’ve had to sit by and listen to Pebble’s empty promises that they would apply for a mine permit any day now. Finally, in the interest of some certainty for our region, we asked the EPA for help, and luckily they listened to our concerns.”
“The fact that members of the committee, the Pebble Partnership, and their allies chose to focus on a few one-off e-mails taken out of context shows that they cannot dispute the clear and independent scientific basis for EPA’s actions in Bristol Bay and their only hope is to distract from the facts,” said Nelli Williams, Alaska Director for Trout Unlimited. “If they think they can safely mine in Bristol Bay then they should stop this wasteful circus and apply for their permits and prove to us all that they will protect Alaska’s most lucrative wild salmon fishery as they claim.”
“EPA’s contact with thousands of mine opponents and only dozens of mine supporters is a clear indication of the widespread and overwhelming opposition to the Pebble proposal, not an indication of impropriety,” said Melanie Brown, a commercial fisherwoman who grew up fishing the Naknek River. “Yesterday’s hearing is yet another Pebble-funded distraction from the heart of the issue: Pebble continues to use desperate stall tactics to push a mine Alaskans don’t want.”
###
United Tribes of Bristol Bay is a tribal consortium working to protect the Yup’ik, Denai’na, and Alutiq way of life and the Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining. Learn more about our work at http://www.utbb.org
Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay is a coalition of over 100 fishing organizations and thousands of individual fishermen working to protect the 14,000 jobs, more than $500 million in annual income, and over half the world’s wild sockeye salmon provided by Bristol Bay’s 125 year sustainable fishery. Learn more at fishermenforbristolbay.org.
Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization. In Alaska, we work with sportsmen and women to ensure the state’s trout and salmon resources remain healthy far into the future through our local chapters and offices in Anchorage and Juneau. Follow TU on Facebook and Twitter, and visit us online at tu.org. Learn more about our work to protect Bristol Bay at savebristolbay.org.
Alaskans respond to yesterday’s [November 5, 2015] congressional Pebble mine hearing
DILLINGHAM, AK – Local tribes, commercial fishermen and sportsmen are surprised that members of Congress seem to be falling for Pebble’s expensive propaganda campaign seeking to obscure the indisputable fact that over 80 percent of Bristol Bay residents, 60 percent of Alaskans, and over 1.5 million Americans spanning the political spectrum want to protect Bristol Bay from the Pebble proposal, which would be the world’s largest open pit mine.
One of Pebble’s tactics played out yesterday in Washington, D.C. where the Science, Space and Technology Committee took up the issue of Pebble’s “Cohen report” that has garnered the attention of a few congressmen and D.C. media.
“There is nothing wrong with Alaskans requesting that a government agency use their legal authority to protect our cultures, livelihoods and businesses from a foreign company who has been lying to us for a decade,” said Alannah Hurley, director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay. “For over 10 years, we’ve had to sit by and listen to Pebble’s empty promises that they would apply for a mine permit any day now. Finally, in the interest of some certainty for our region, we asked the EPA for help, and luckily they listened to our concerns.”
“The fact that members of the committee, the Pebble Partnership, and their allies chose to focus on a few one-off e-mails taken out of context shows that they cannot dispute the clear and independent scientific basis for EPA’s actions in Bristol Bay and their only hope is to distract from the facts,” said Nelli Williams, Alaska Director for Trout Unlimited. “If they think they can safely mine in Bristol Bay then they should stop this wasteful circus and apply for their permits and prove to us all that they will protect Alaska’s most lucrative wild salmon fishery as they claim.”
“EPA’s contact with thousands of mine opponents and only dozens of mine supporters is a clear indication of the widespread and overwhelming opposition to the Pebble proposal, not an indication of impropriety,” said Melanie Brown, a commercial fisherwoman who grew up fishing the Naknek River. “Yesterday’s hearing is yet another Pebble-funded distraction from the heart of the issue: Pebble continues to use desperate stall tactics to push a mine Alaskans don’t want.”
###
United Tribes of Bristol Bay is a tribal consortium working to protect the Yup’ik, Denai’na, and Alutiq way of life and the Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining. Learn more about our work at http://www.utbb.org
Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay is a coalition of over 100 fishing organizations and thousands of individual fishermen working to protect the 14,000 jobs, more than $500 million in annual income, and over half the world’s wild sockeye salmon provided by Bristol Bay’s 125 year sustainable fishery. Learn more at fishermenforbristolbay.org.
Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization. In Alaska, we work with sportsmen and women to ensure the state’s trout and salmon resources remain healthy far into the future through our local chapters and offices in Anchorage and Juneau. Follow TU on Facebook and Twitter, and visit us online at tu.org. Learn more about our work to protect Bristol Bay at savebristolbay.org.
For more information:
http://www.savebristolbay.org/blog/for-imm...
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1. Bristol Bay is home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run.
2. Pebble mine would generate toxic waste in a seismically active region.
3. A majority of the people of Bristol Bay do not want the mine.
4. Native people live in Bristol Bay, and they subsist off the land.
5. Bristol Bay is home to an abundance of animals that need pristine habitat.
6. Bristol Bay has thousands of rivers and streams that would be degraded.
7. Commercial and sport fishing jobs would be jeopardized.
8. Wild salmon provide us with omega-3 fatty acids.
9. The Pebble Limited Partnership is untrustworthy.
10. Future generations depend on us to protect their most important and lasting legacy--the land.
For more details, visit stoppebblemine.com
2. Pebble mine would generate toxic waste in a seismically active region.
3. A majority of the people of Bristol Bay do not want the mine.
4. Native people live in Bristol Bay, and they subsist off the land.
5. Bristol Bay is home to an abundance of animals that need pristine habitat.
6. Bristol Bay has thousands of rivers and streams that would be degraded.
7. Commercial and sport fishing jobs would be jeopardized.
8. Wild salmon provide us with omega-3 fatty acids.
9. The Pebble Limited Partnership is untrustworthy.
10. Future generations depend on us to protect their most important and lasting legacy--the land.
For more details, visit stoppebblemine.com
For more information:
http://www.stoppebblemine.com
The Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska is home to the last great wild sockeye salmon fishery in the world. It’s also home to enormous mineral deposits -- copper, gold, molybdenum -- estimated to be worth up to $500 billion. Now, two foreign mining companies are proposing to extract this mineral wealth by digging one of North America’s largest open-pit mines, the “Pebble Mine,” at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. FRONTLINE travels to Alaska to probe the fault lines of a growing battle between those who depend on this extraordinary fishery for a living, the mining companies who are pushing for Pebble, and the political framework that will ultimately decide the outcome.
Watch the documentary online at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/alaska-gold/
Watch the documentary online at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/alaska-gold/
The Pebble Mine is more important than you think. Regardless of what people may or may not think the mine's effects or lack thereof on the surrounding fisheries and the sockeye salmon or that a spill may or may not happen in the future or may or may not find its way into said fisheries, there is one thing that is certain: The amount of minerals in the Pebble Mine has the ability to help us tackle Global Warming and upset the negative environmental impacts by the oil and gas industry. Pebble Mine and Clean Energy go hand in hand. And if we want a clean atmosphere and future for your children, grandchildren and their children, and the cost of future is relatively small sacrifice today, how could not explore the option. The amount of copper in the Pebble Mine that could be used for wind turbines and photovoltaics is astounding. Increasing our supply of copper for use in renewable energy makes the energy we produce cleaner and cheaper and helping the US meet its goal of reducing carbon emissions and increasing the percent of energy we receive from renewable sources.
The probability of damaging the Bristol Bay habitat and the Sockeye salmon is much lower than what the EPA states. I choose a clean earth and clean energy, offsetting global warming should the only casualty be landscape and salmon.
The probability of damaging the Bristol Bay habitat and the Sockeye salmon is much lower than what the EPA states. I choose a clean earth and clean energy, offsetting global warming should the only casualty be landscape and salmon.
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