Northern Dynasty: Alaska and 13 Other States Strongly Oppose the EPA Proposed Veto of Pebble (yahoo.com)
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 4, 2022 / Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX:NDM)(NYSE American:NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company" or "NDM") advises that a compelling letter was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") by the State of Alaska, and a second letter signed by a total of 14 states, was submitted protesting against the EPA's overreach with the revised Proposed Determination of the Pebble Project in Southwest Alaska.
The State of Alaska has submitted a strongly-worded letter to the EPA detailing its deep concerns about the EPA's actions, for reasons including:
"It diminishes the importance of resource development to Alaska and its people. It also disregards the State's ability to - and history of - ensuring protection of its own fishery resources through the State's permitting system…Ensuring Alaska's ability to develop its resources, was a key concern to the State and Congress during statehood negotiations…In the unlikely event of its validity, exercise of this veto would constitute a regulatory taking, for which compensation, in the billions, is due."
The entire letter can be viewed at the following link: pr.report
Fourteen states (Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming) submitted a letter in opposition to the EPA Region 10's proposed determination, calling it an unprecedented abuse of its perceived authority and warning about its implications for the future. The strongly-worded letter noted that,
"If finalized…it would impose a blanket prohibition on all future, similar mining projects over a 309-square-mile area, which is 23 times the size of the proposed project footprint and comprises lands owned by the State of Alaska. This veto sets a dangerous precedent…effectively creating a 404(c) wild card, playable at whim to stop projects. Such a power introduces profound uncertainty into the 404 permitting process and, by extension, the investment climate; and undermines steps taken by Congress and President Biden to lessen our Nation's mineral dependence on other countries, like China, in pursuit of a renewable energy economy of our own."
The entire letter can be viewed at the following link: pr.report
"If the EPA's revised Proposed Determination is enacted, then no permit application can be submitted, by anyone, to mine in the 309-square mile area which encompasses the Pebble deposit, basically turning the world's largest deposit of much needed copper, gold, silver, molybdenum and rhenium into yet another de facto park," said Ronald Thiessen, Northern Dynasty President and CEO. "Alaska doesn't need another park. It needs full-time jobs, improved living standards for its residents in southwestern Alaska, and tax revenues for the future benefit of its people. And the United States of America desperately needs a domestic supply of its own metal to successfully transition to a green economy. Further, this action by the EPA is in direct opposition to Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act ("ANILCA") and effectively sterilizes Native Village Corporations lands in the area as well. This action by the EPA is bad for Alaska, bad for the region and bad for the country as the Final Pebble Environmental Impact Statement concluded development of Pebble is not a choice between mining or fishing, rather it's a process which will allow Alaskans to benefit from both the mine and the fishery."
About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset, owned through its wholly owned Alaska-based U.S. subsidiary, Pebble Limited Partnership, is a 100% interest in a contiguous block of 1,840 mineral claims in Southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit, located 200 miles from Anchorage and 125 miles from Bristol Bay. The Pebble Partnership is the proponent of the Pebble Project, an initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral resources. |
