Release of Pebble project impact statement pushed back

The release date for the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the large Pebble copper/gold project has been pushed from late January to mid-February, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official.

This is the first time the corps has set a specific date for release of the document, and it is a key step in the federal regulatory process for Pebble.

Pebble is a large copper, gold and molybdenum deposit 18 miles north of Iliamna, southwest of Anchorage. Northern Dynasty Minerals, Ltd., a Vancouver, B.C.-based minerals exploration company, is the developer. If a mine is built, however, larger mining companies would likely become partners.

The EIS document, required under the National Environmental Protection Act for major federal actions, weighs the environmental effects of a proposal, said Shane McCoy, the Army Corps’ permitting manager for Pebble.

The EIS, “is mainly a disclosure document, analyzing the environmental effects,” and is not a regulatory decision, although it leads to a regulatory decision, such as on the Clean Water Act Section 404 permit for Pebble.

Based on the EIS the corps would typically select a preferred alternative among several analyze, although sometimes no preferred alternative is chosen.

Nevertheless, completion of the DEIS is a milestone. It will be posted on the Army corps’ Pebble website in mid-February and public comments will be accepted on a date between Feb. 22 and March 1, when a notice of the EIS will be published in the Federal Register, McCoy said.

Publication of the draft will also trigger a 90-day public comment period. Hearings on the document, which will spell out environmental impacts and alternatives, will be held in communities in the Bristol Bay region as well as in Anchorage, he said.

Meanwhile, information for the draft from all federal agencies and state of Alaska “cooperating agency” status have been received, McCoy said, although responses are still coming in from non-governmental groups who have been given cooperating agency status.

Federal agencies providing information to the corps include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service. Two Bristol Bay region tribal groups have cooperating agency status as nongovernment groups.

If the corps maintains its schedule the final Environmental Impact Statement would be released in early 2020 followed by a Record of Decision within in 90 days, McCoy said.

On that schedule Pebble could receive its major federal permits in mid-2020, although litigation that is expected could delay that. The project must also apply for state permits including a dam safety certificate attesting to the integrity of impoundment dams that would be built to store mine tailings and water.

Although the corps does not include economic feasibility in the EIS or its permitting action, economics is factored indirectly toward the end of the process, he said. When alternatives to the proposed action are weighed the option that is least environmentally damaging, but is also practical, is recommended in the EIS.

The term “practical” brings in a consideration of economic practicality, although an economic analysis is not required, McCoy said. “We largely leave the economics to the applicant. We assume the project would not be considered if it were impractical,” he said.

Although Pebble would be a large mine that would offer substantial employment opportunities in an economically-depressed region it is also controversial with tribal and fishing organizations in the region because of its location in proximity to wetlands and streams that support salmon habitat.

The worry is that an accidental release of pollutants would damage salmon habitat that helps support the rich Bristol Bay commercial salmon fishery.