EPA Initiates Process to Withdraw Its Proposed Determination for Northern Dynasty’s Pebble Project
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Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. said the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun a process to withdraw a proposed determination it issued under the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 2014 that would have restricted development of the Pebble Project in southwest Alaska.
On May 12, 2017, EPA and Northern Dynasty’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Alaska-based Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP), reached a settlement agreement that allows the Pebble Project to proceed into normal course permitting under the CWA and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The federal agency’s proposal to formally withdraw its proposed determination further clarifies PLP’s right to proceed into normal course permitting unencumbered by any extraordinary development restrictions, and complies with EPA’s legal obligations under the settlement agreement.
“The current administration at EPA is closely focused on enforcing environmental standards and permitting requirements for major development projects like Pebble in a way that is both rigorous and robust, but also consistent in order to provide predictability and an even-playing field for all resource developers,” said Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier.
“It’s an approach all Alaskans and all Americans should support, because it has the benefit of maintaining the high standards for environmental protection for which the state and country are known, while attracting investment in projects that create high-wage jobs and other much-needed economic benefits in our country,” added Collier.
Collier said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has stated he does not support the unprecedented pre-emptive veto that his predecessor initiated at Pebble in July 2014. However, Pruitt also made clear his staff will follow the necessary steps to properly assess and withdraw the proposed determination – an administrative process that has now begun.
“Due process and open, transparent decision-making matters to this administration. And that is something we both accept and respect,” said Collier.
Collier expressed confidence that EPA will withdraw its proposed determination at the conclusion of the administrative process initiated today. The US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology urged Administrator Pruitt to take such action back in February 2017, stating that EPA actions at Pebble were based on “a questionable scientific assessment that relied on pre-determined conclusions,” and that EPA officials “acted with bias and predetermined conclusions aimed to prevent this project and improperly expand EPA’s authority under the Clean Water Act.”
Under the terms of its settlement with Pebble, EPA has agreed it will not file a recommended determination under CWA Section 404(c) until a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Pebble Project has been completed by the US Army Corps of Engineers — so long as that occurs within a period of four years following the May 2017 settlement, and PLP applies for permits with 30 months of the settlement date. In return for these commitments, PLP agreed to terminate two lawsuits it brought against EPA under the Federal Advisory Committee Act and Freedom of Information Act.
Northern Dynasty is now focused on qualifying and securing a new major funding partner for the Pebble Project, while the Pebble Partnership is advancing plans to initiate federal and state permitting with a smaller, environmentally-optimized project design. Both major project milestones — re-partnering and initiating permitting under the CWA and NEPA — are expected to be achieved in the near term.
“We believe the project design we are preparing to advance into permitting, as well as the social and stakeholder programs and commitments we are building around our project, will address many of the priorities and concerns we have heard from stakeholders in Alaska,” said Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ron Thiessen.
“We have every confidence that a permitting process led by the Corps will be objective and science-based, and provide us an opportunity to demonstrate that Pebble is a project of merit that will provide very substantial benefits to the people and communities of southwest Alaska, the state and nation as a whole,” added Thiessen.
About Northern Dynasty Minerals
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 US subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership and other wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a 100 percent interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit. The Pebble Partnership is the proponent of the Pebble Project, an initiative to develop one of the world’s most important mineral resources.
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