The EPA has denied a Clean Water Permit for a copper and gold mine proposed near Lake Clark National Park and Preserve that would impact wetlands in the area/EPA

More than two decades of battles over a copper and gold mine proposed to be built near Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in Alaska came to a halt as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has denied the backers' request to dump mining wastes into the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed that supports a world-class salmon fishery.

"The direct effects and certain secondary effects of such discharges would result in the total loss of aquatic habitats important to anadromous fishes," the EPA ruled Monday in denying the required 404 Clean Water Permit.

The decision marks the second time in a week that the Biden administration has moved to protect an internationally renowned watershed. Last week the administration blocked mining that could have adversely impacted the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Michigan.

In the case of the Pebble Mine long proposed to be developed near Lake Clark, the EPA said mine wastes would "result in the total loss of approximately 99.7 miles (160.5 km) of stream habitat, representing approximately 8.5 miles (13.7 km) of anadromous fish streams and 91 miles (147 km) of additional streams that support anadromous fish streams," the EPA added in its 27-page ruling. "Such discharges of dredged or fill material also would result in the total loss of approximately 2,108 acres (8.5 km2) of wetlands and other waters in the [South Fork Koktuli River] and [North Fork Koktuli River] watersheds that support anadromous fish streams."

The proposed mine would lie at the headwaters of two of the largest tributaries of Bristol Bay, and is directly between Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and Katmai National Park and Preserve. Fishermen, homesteaders, Native Americans, and fish and wildlife all depend upon this pristine area for life itself. Bristol Bay supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery on Earth. 

Eyed to be developed just 14 miles beyond the preserve portion of Lake Clark's southwestern boundary, the vision of Pebble had spawned a land rush that since 2003 has seen some 1,000 square miles of state lands adjacent to the park staked with mining claims. The proposed Pebble mine itself would require "an 82-mile road, pipeline and utilities corridor to a permanent, year-round port facility on Cook Inlet, a lightering location in Iniskin Bay, a 164-mile natural gas pipeline from existing energy infrastructure on the Kenai Peninsula to the Pebble mine site, a 270 MW natural gas-fired power plant at the mine site and smaller power generation facility at the port site."

The EPA's ruling was hailed by environmental and conservation groups.

“We applaud the EPA for taking this critical step to protect the irreplaceable ecosystems of Alaska’s Bristol Bay," said Marc Fink, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. "From salmon and grizzly bears to the rare Iliamna Lake seals, a remarkable array of wildlife depends on this watershed. This should be the final nail in the coffin of the disastrous Pebble Mine proposal, but we’ll keep fighting until this watershed is permanently protected."

“Pebble Mine would destroy massive amounts of water and land in the heart of a wild, pristine and productive landscape. These safeguards are reserved for special places and Bristol Bay fits the bill perfectly. While there is more work to be done, with this news we can begin to work toward a bright future for Bristol Bay without the shadow of the Pebble mine constantly hanging over our heads,” added Brian Kraft, president of Katmai Service Providers and operator of two Bristol Bay fishing lodges. “This sends yet another very strong message to the Pebble Partnership: your mine is not wanted here; we have better plans for Bristol Bay.”

Pebble Mine locator map/USACE

There was no immediate word from Northern Dynasty Minerals, which is driving the project, but back in December, when the regional EPA office in Alaska recommended denial of the 404 permit, the company said "the proposed determination should have been withdrawn as it is based on indefensible legal and non-scientific assumptions."

"The process and the decision have been political from the start, as evidenced by White House Climate Change Advisor Gina McCarthy’s stating in November of 2021 that the administration would shut down the project once and for all while praising the action with a ‘hallelujah,'" said Northern Dynasty CEO  John Shively at the time. "Those who think we can build a green energy economy in this country and stop mining at the same time are living in a fantasy world."

According to Trout Unlimited, the EPA's Final Determination arrived just six months after the Bristol Bay region set a record with 79 million sockeye salmon returning to its rivers, streams, and lakes.

Whether the EPA's decision is the final say on Pebble remains to be seen, though. Back in July 2020, in a 180-degree reversal of an Obama administration finding, the Trump administration said the mine would not harm the fisheries of Bristol Bay. 

In 2014 the Obama administration decided that the project posed too much of a threat to the fisheries' rich Bristol Bay waters to permit it and put the brakes on the project. But under President Trump the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in July 2020 released its final environmental impact statement on the project, stating, in essence, that the Obama administration was wrong and that the project with its 20-year life could move forward without great threat to the environment.

"Overall, impacts to fish and wildlife would not be expected to impact harvest levels. Resources would continue to be available because no population-level decrease in resources would be anticipated," the EIS's executive summary stated.