Fueling the flames of controversy: the EPA weighs in on Pebble.

• Author: Cottrell, Paula
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Mining

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The Pebble Project is without a doubt one of the most controversial mineral exploration projects in Alaska. But when commercial fishing interests and Alaska Native groups from western Alaska petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency to exercise its veto authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act on the proposed Pebble Project, it caused several people to question whether everyone was jumping the gun.

The Authority of Section 404(c)

The Clean Water Act authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or an approved state to issue permits for discharges of dredged or fill material at specified sites in waters of the United States. Section 404c, however, authorizes the EPA to restrict, prohibit, deny or withdraw the use of an area as a disposal site for dredged or fill material if the discharge will have unacceptable adverse effects on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife or recreational areas.

Generally, Section 404(c) actions are initiated in response to unresolved Corps of Engineers permit applications. According to Corps permit data, it is estimated they process approximately 60,000 permit actions each year. Since 1972, the EPA has judiciously used its veto authority only 13 times, but in that time, they have never tried to veto a project that had yet to apply for a permit with the Corps of Engineers.

"The EPA didn't come up with this idea on their own," says Rick Rogers, executive director of the Resource Development Council of Alaska. "There were a group of tribes and other interests that petitioned the EPA to do the assessment and the EPA went along with it. There was a lot of pressure for them to do so."

Initial Draft Report

In May 2012, the EPA released a draft report of the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment after conducting an 11-month study of the area that covers more than 20,000 square miles in Bristol Bay, Maska--an area that is home to one of the most lucrative commercial salmon fishing operations in the state. Opponents of the Pebble Project fear than any mining operations in the area will upset the delicate ecological balance that is required to ensure the fishing industry remains sustainable.

"It's too early to judge the Pebble Project because all of the information is not in," says Rogers. "Pebble has spent over 5 years and $120 million evaluating if a mining operation is environmentally feasible and they still don't believe they have all of the...