With today’s final determination from the EPA, local leaders in Bristol Bay can now begin building for the future of Bristol Bay rather than fighting against a mine they don’t want. The residents of Bristol Bay have worked together to oppose this mine for more than 20 years, and today marks a major milestone in that long journey. “A ‘no’ on the Pebble Mine is a ‘yes’ to letting local communities decide what’s best for them and a ‘yes’ to preserving some of the last wild salmon runs on earth. “We are thrilled with the EPA’s finding and thank the thousands of people in Alaska and around the country who participated in the public process that led to this result, including more than 31,000 TNC supporters. The following is a statement by Ivy Spohnholz, state director of The Nature Conservancy in Alaska: With today’s action, the agency has now invoked its Section 404(c) authority on just 14 occasions in the 50 years since the Clean Water Act became law. The recommendation urged the agency to exercise its rarely used authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to prohibit development of the Pebble deposit at a certain scale. If developed as proposed, Pebble would be one of the largest open pit mines in the world. The agency today finalized its recommendation, first released in December, to prohibit and restrict the use of certain waters in the watershed near the Pebble deposit. Environmental Protection Agency issued a determination which effectively ends the threat of the proposed Pebble Mine. The future of the world’s largest wild salmon fishery and the lifeblood of Alaska’s Bristol Bay shines brighter after the U.S.
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