EPA may veto Pebble over water risk

VANCOUVER – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it might employ a little used veto power to block development of the Pebble mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, the latest twist in a long battle over the proposed mine.

Pebble is the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit in the world. Owner Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM) is trying to build momentum behind plans to turn the behemoth deposit into a massive mine, but the project sits on pristine lands famous for their salmon spawning streams.

Environmentalists, natives, and commercial fishermen have united to oppose the mine. In 2011 these opponents petitioned the EPA to review Pebble’s potential impacts. The resulting report, released in January, found that large scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed posed significant risks to salmon and to the Alaskan native cultures that rely on the fish.

Now the EPA has revealed how it could act to protect Bristol Bay from such risks.

Read the complete article at NorthernMiner.com/news/pebble