Army Corps to review its denial of key permit for Pebble project

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will review its denial of a key federal permit for the proposed large Pebble mine project in southwest Alaska, the agency announced April 25. Brig. Gen. Kirk Gibbs, Division Engineer at the corps’ Pacific Ocean Division, said he found certain parts of an appeal to the denial by Pebble Partnership Ltd., the developer, to have merit.

Gibbs’ decision sends the matter back to the corp’s Alaska District for reconsideration. The Alaska District had denied a U.S. Clean Water Act Section 404 dredge and fill permit for Pebble Partnership Ltd., which hopes to develop a large copper, gold and molybdenum deposit near Iliamna, southwest of Anchorage.

It its appeal, Pebble Partnership said the corps’ evaluation was flawed and showed factual inconsistencies with data compiled in a Final Environmental Impact Statement done by the agency for the Pebble project.

“My decision to remand permit application back to the Alaska District is not a permit authorization,” Gibbs said in a statement. “The (Alaska) District has been asked to re-evaluate specific issues with the administrative record to ensure the decision is well-supported.”

Pebble Partnership CEO John Shively said the remand shows the corps recognizes that its final decision was not properly taken.

“I am encouraged that some in the federal government recognize the importance of following a fair and established process for reviewing resource projects in Alaska,” Shively said.

The decision may not affect the final outcome for Pebble, however, because in a separate action the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a decision that it would exercise its authority under section 404c of the federal Clean Water Act to preempt a large scale mine in the Bristol Bay watershed, a large region of southwest Alaska.

That decision, however, may still be challenged in federal court by Pebble Partnership and the state of Alaska. The state will argue the EPA’s preemption effectively blocks the state from developing natural resources on state-owned lands in the region including the proposed Pebble project.

“Our review and evaluation of legal options, including litigation, are ongoing,” Alaska Department of Law spokesperson Patty Sullivan said. “No final decision has been made regarding the details of suit, but the state does intend to litigate this EPA decision.

Key parts of the corps’ initial decision on the Section 404 permits denial that will now be reviewed include Pebble’s proposed wetlands impact mitigation plan and its plans to prevent a large spill of mine tailings that could impair fish-bearing streams in the area.

The initial decision also gave inadequate weight to economic benefits the project will bring to small communities in the area which now suffer high unemployment and living costs.

Although the Pebble discovery was made on state lands designated for mineral exploration, communities downstream in the Bristol Bay region object to the mine over its potential damage, should a tailing spill occur, to salmon spawning streams that support major commercial fisheries.