ANCHORAGE, Alaska _ The Trump administration on Friday said it's releasing a final environmental review of the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine in Southwest Alaska that will smooth the path for the mine's eventual development.
The report found that the mine should not hurt the long-term health of the valuable Bristol Bay salmon fishery, or significantly impact salmon returns, a conclusion that tribal, fishing and conservation groups swiftly condemned.
Conservation groups Thursday released early copies of the final environmental impact statement, prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The review contradicts a 2014 report under President Barack Obama that found the mine would severely damage the Bristol Bay watershed.
Mine developer Pebble Limited Partnership praised the analysis as a milestone that sets the stage for the project's development.
"I think this is the single most significant day in the history of the Pebble project," said Tom Collier, chief executive of Pebble Limited, on Friday. "On the issue of fish, it unequivocally and repeatedly says there will be no significant damage."
The open-pit mine would be built near the headwaters of salmon-producing rivers that support the Bristol Bay fishery, about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage. Major facilities would include a gas pipeline across Cook Inlet, a port site at the inlet, an 80-mile road to the mine site, and a 270-megawatt power plant.
The mining pit would stretch more than 1 mile wide, and more than 1 mile in length. It would extend more than one-third of a mile into the earth, said Mike Heatwole, a spokesman with Pebble.
The company has said the prospect could become one of the largest copper and gold mines in the U.S., annually producing 318 million pounds of copper and 362,000 ounces of gold for 20 years.
At current prices, the gross value of those metals is about $1.6 billion annually. Collier has indicated the project would not be profitable in the first several years of production, until development costs are repaid.
The environmental analysis allows the Corps, in at least 30 days, to issue a permit need to build the mine under the Clean Water Act, allowing damage to wetlands and streams in the area. The Corps could also reject Pebble's application, or issue a permit with modifications.
Approval of that permit, and two others from the U.S. Coast Guard and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, would conclude the federal permitting process and launch a three-year state permitting process, Pebble has said.
Construction would follow those state reviews.
In a 119-page executive summary, the Corps' analysis concluded that under normal operations, the mine "would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers and result in long-term changes to the health of the commercial fisheries in Bristol Bay."
The Corps has not fully addressed numerous issues raised during the public review process that led to the report, said Nelli Williams with Trout Unlimited Alaska.
The agency erred in its finding that the project should not damage the fishery in the long run, she said.
"They have that wrong," Williams said.
The report shows the mine would damage more than 191 miles of streams and 4,614 acres of wetlands, she said. In most cases, the damage would be permanent, she said.
"You have massive impact to all the streams and wetlands that contribute to the fishery," she said.
In recent years, the fate of the mine has toggled between the politics of presidential administrations.
Pebble parent Northern Dynasty Mineral has pursued the development for about two decades. Early opposition from tribal and fishing groups about the mine's threat to one of the world's most valuable fisheries sparked an international outcry against the project.
The prospect survived a 2014 proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency under Obama to issue a preliminary veto that would kill the project. The agency under the Trump administration reversed course in 2019, yanking that proposal.
Major mining partners have also left the project amid the criticism, leaving Pebble Limited, a small company, in pursuit of investors that would help foot the multibillion-dollar costs.
The Corps has not thoroughly addressed multiple issues, including about the economic viability of the project, critics said.
The mine exists on state land, and would provide more than $1 billion in state revenues, Collier said.
Alaska Native corporations have vowed to stop the project by refusing to allow access to the site across their lands, including longtime mine opponent Bristol Bay Native Corp.
The United Tribes of Bristol Bay, representing 15 tribes from the region, said in a statement the report ignores comments from tens of thousands of people who know the project will devastate Bristol Bay.
It doesn't address concerns from state and federal agencies and a congressional directive about shortcomings in the data and analysis, the group said.
"Despite the announcement today, this fight is nowhere near over, more permitting is required, local landowners are blocking the transportation route and the project remains too toxic for investors," the group said.
