Legislation to Stop the Pebble Mine Is Introduced

Ryan Peterson

U.S. Representative Mary Sattler Peltola of Alaska just introduced the Bristol Bay Protection Act, which would prohibit the Pebble Mine and restrict any future mining of the Pebble deposit in certain headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed. If passed, the bill would codify the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's vetounder Section 404(c)of the Clean Water Act.

This is a watershed momentand a hard-fought victory for the Alutiiq, Dena'ina, and Yup'ik tribes of Bristol Bay and their allies, including NRDC, who are united in their opposition to the Pebble Mine-and its 10 billion tons of mining waste that would need to be stored, forever, at the headwaters of the greatest wild salmon fishery in the world.

Bristol Bay Defense Fund

It's the culmination of more than a decade of advocacy-spanning three presidential administrations-during which NRDC members and activists, Bristol Bay residents, tribes, commercial fishermen, sportsmen, conservation organizations, faith-based groups, chefs, investors, businesses, and more fought fiercely to protect Bristol Bay from the Pebble Mine.

More than just a watershed, the Bristol Bay supports: the subsistence lifestyle of some of the world's last intact salmon-based cultures; a commercial fishing industry worth $2.2 billion annually; 15,000 jobs; and an international sports destination for anglers across the globe. And it supplies more than half of the world's wild sockeye salmon.

If passed, the Bristol Bay Protection Act would be a landmark conservation victory that is decades in the making.

It should be a no-brainer. The Pebble Mine is so reviled that-in a rare show of bipartisan agreement-agencies of the Biden, Obama, and Trump administrations all took action to stop it (Obama and Biden through 404(c) protections and Trump through a Clean Water Act permit denial). Even Alaska's congressional delegation-known for its pro-development positions-is unified against the project. And not only did Democratic representative Peltola just introduce this legislation but Republican senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan have called Pebble Mine the "wrong mine in the wrong place."

We look forward to working with Representative Peltola and other Bristol Bay champions in Congress to enact legislation that stops the Pebble Mine once and for all.

Related Blogs