Pebble Northern Dynasty not happy with U.S. decision on Pebble
2022-05-25 14:59 ET - News Release
Mr. Ronald Thiessen reports
NORTHERN DYNASTY: PEBBLE PARTNERSHIP REACTS TO U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY S ANNOUNCEMENT TO PURSUE POLITICAL PREEMPTIVE VETO AGAIN
John Shively, chief executive officer of its Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.'s 100-per-cent-owned United States-based subsidiary, Pebble LP, released the following statement about today's news that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to advance its pre-emptive veto of the Pebble project:
"This is clearly a giant step backwards for the Biden administration's climate change goals. I find it ironic that the president is using the Defense Production Act to get more renewable energy minerals such as copper into production while others in the administration seek political ways to stop domestic mining projects such as ours. As we are still actively working through the established permitting process via our appeal of the Army Corps of Engineers permit denial, we oppose any action that is outside of that process. This pre-emptive effort is clearly a political manoeuvre to attempt to block our ability to work through that established process. Further, the Army Corps of Engineers published an environmental impact statement (EIS) for Pebble in 2020 with input from many agencies, including the EPA, that states that the project can be done without harm to the region's fisheries. The EIS further notes the tremendous economic opportunity the project represents for the communities around Iliamna Lake where year-round jobs are scarce and the cost of living is very high. We still need an opportunity to review the specific details that will be in the pre-emptive veto action. It is also worth noting that there are several additional internal steps that the EPA must follow before anything is final, including a public comment period and a decision by the assistant administrator. The Pebble project remains an important domestic source for the minerals necessary for the Biden administration to reach its green energy goals and, if it blocks Pebble, it will have to seek minerals to meet its goals from foreign sources which simply do not have the same environmental standards as we do."
About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset, owned through its wholly owned Alaska-based United States subsidiary, Pebble, is a 100-per-cent interest in a contiguous block of 1,840 mineral claims in southwestern Alaska, including the Pebble deposit, located 200 miles from Anchorage and 125 miles from Bristol Bay. The Pebble partnership is the proponent of the Pebble project, an initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral resources.