A Canadian mining company has hit another hurdle in its decades-long quest to extract gold and copper from sensitive headwaters above the world’s best salmon run. According to Salmon State, the Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals failed to reach a settlement with the Department of Justice in its current court case challenging Clean Water Act protections for the world-famous Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska. If the company had convinced the Trump Administration to scrap Clean Water Act safeguards for the bay, it could have opened a pathway for the highly controversial Pebble Mine project.
The Trump Administration first blocked the Pebble Mine back in November 2020. That's when the Army Corps of Engineers denied a critical permit that Northern Dynasty needed to move ahead with the project. At the time, the Army Corps said the Pebble Mine was "contrary to the public interest." Scores of American sportsmen and women from across the political spectrum agreed and applauded the decision.
Then, in 2023, the Biden Administration's EPA used section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to veto the project altogether. The embattled Northern Dynasty is now fighting both the Biden-era Clean Water Act veto and the Trump-era Army Corps permit denial in a US federal court in Alaska.
“We thank President Trump for defending this one of a kind natural resource from short term exploitation by foreign controlled interests," said Salmon State Executive Director Tim Bristol in a statement shared with Field & Stream. "Bristol Bay’s world class salmon runs generate upwards of $2.2 billion in economic activity, are a vital source of clean, nutritious food, and represent one of the great hunting and angling destinations on the planet."
Trout Unlimited expressed similar support for the move in a statement shared with Field & Stream on July 18. "We're glad the Administration has rejected Pebble Limited Partnership’s settlement proposal and is moving forward with this [court] case," TU Alaska Director Nelli Williams. "It’s past time to put this ill-conceived project in the rear-view mirror. Both the permit denial and the EPA’s decision to safeguard Bristol Bay's $2.2 billion powerhouse fishery and 15,000 American jobs are supported by a robust record, tens of thousands of hunters and anglers and the majority of Americans.”
Bristol Bay lies west of the Alaska Peninsula and is fed by 6 major river systems that drain the southwestern part of the state. While sockeyes are the most abundant, the pristine watershed supports all of the world's major salmon species. "Because no hatchery fish are raised or released in the watershed, Bristol Bay's salmon populations are entirely wild," the EPA states on its website. "These fish are anadromous - hatching and rearing in freshwater systems, migrating to the sea to grow to adult size, and returning to freshwater systems to spawn and die."
According to Salmon State, harmful pollution from Northern Dynasty's Pebble Mine would permanently disrupt that cycle. "In November 2020 ... the Environmental Protection Agency determined that the Pebble Mine site was unfit for toxic waste storage," the organization said in its press release. "Trump’s decision is supported by sound science and backed by strong public opinion – 63% of Alaskans are against mining in Bristol Bay. More than 4 million public comments have been submitted by Americans in support of Bristol Bay protections, since they were first proposed more than a decade ago."
Northern Dynasty's stock prices plunged on July 17 amid rumors that they failed to reach a settlement with the Trump-led EPA in their challenge to Bristol Bay's Clean Water Act protections. But CEO Ron Thiessen said his company will continue to fight for the Pebble Mine.
"We asked the court to set a briefing schedule for summary judgment motions, as we now believe that will be the quickest, most direct avenue to get the [Clean Water Act] veto removed,” Thiessen told Mining Daily. "We will continue to work with the relevant government agencies to resolve this issue. Meanwhile we are confident that the court will agree with our assessment that the issuance of the veto by the Biden Administration was unlawful.”
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Advocates for durable Clean Water Act protections in Bristol Bay have been unsure about where the Trump-led EPA would land on the Pebble Mine issue since January. And the Administration's highly-touted Energy Dominance philosophy has caused some to worry that the unpopular mining proposal could rear its head once again. But today's announcement is cause for celebration, they say. "With the U.S. Justice Department and Bristol Bay communities and organizations united behind these policy decisions to defend Bristol Bay," said Salmon State, "the case now proceeds in federal court."
