No Mitigation Plan Needed Since Wetlands are Not Disturbed Shively said he believes the corps has written a strong environmental impact statement that shows the mine can coexist with fish. “The EIS was issued by a professional agency and prepared by a respected third party contractor,” which was AECON, he said.
The corps has also set an unusually high standard for the mitigation plan, requiring that all of the wetlands impacts be mitigated in the same watershed in which the mine would be built, Shively said. This is unusual for Alaska but common in the Lower 48 states, but an important difference is that in other states there is damaged wetland acreage that can be repaired or rehabilitated as part of a developer’s mitigation plan.
In most parts of rural Alaska including the Pebble area the wetlands are pristine, with NO DAMAGE TO BE REPAIRED, so it’s a high hurdle for the project to deal with, Shively said.
https://www.anchoragepress.com/despite-political-knocks-pebble-s-developer-presses-ahead-on-securing-permits-for-mine/article_3ac9c1e4-1008-11eb-8dc1-a32b4907ff49.html