Record Numbers Support EPA Veto of Pebble Mine

More than half a million people – including a record number of Alaskans – voiced widespread support for EPA to stop the Pebble Mine and protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay. This week EPA concluded a public comment period on its revised proposal under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act that, if finalized, would safeguard Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine. And like the waters of the Bristol Bay watershed, the public response is crystal clear: overwhelmingly in support of comprehensive Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay.  

 Bristol Bay is home to the world’s largest wild salmon run, supporting a $2.2 billion annual commercial fishery, 15,000 jobs, and Alaska Native communities. Salmon are the economic and cultural lifeblood of the Bristol Bay region. Yet the proposed Pebble Mine – and its 10 billion tons of toxic waste – would risk it all. 

That’s why record numbers of Alaskans turned out in 2022 to support Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay.   

The close of the public comment period is the latest step in a marathon to protect Bristol Bay, but the finish line is now in sight.  

Bristol Bay Tribes and allies—including NRDC—first petitioned EPA for Clean Water Act protections in 2010, prompting a three-year, twice peer-reviewed scientific assessment that concluded in 2014 with EPA issuing proposed protections under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act. When the Canadian owner of the Pebble Mine stalled that proposal in court, the clock ran out on the Obama administration. 

The Trump administration ultimately withdrew the 404(c) proposed protections in 2019. After Bristol Bay Tribes and allies—including NRDC—challenged the Trump administration’s unlawful withdrawal in court—leading to a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals order reinstating the 404(c) process—EPA began once again in 2021.  

The agency issued a revised proposed determination in May 2022—sparking the public comment period that just closed—and has set a deadline of December 2022 to issue a recommended determination. A final determination protecting Bristol Bay issued by EPA under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act is the last step in the regulatory process.  

This is the finish line we’ve been racing toward for more than a decade. 

Consistent with the science and administrative record, the people have spoken time and time again. EPA must now finalize strong, durable, and comprehensive protections that will definitively safeguard the headwaters of Bristol Bay—and the people and wildlife they support.