Published: July 30, 2020 |

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Northern Dynasty Minerals and its 100 percent owned US-based subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership have completed a comprehensive review of the final environmental impact statement for the proposed Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project, as published by lead federal regulator the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) last week.

Northern Dynasty president and CEO Ron Thiessen confirmed the final EIS for the Pebble Project describes a modern mineral development project that can fully co-exist with the subsistence, commercial and recreational fishing resources of southwest Alaska, while protecting water quality, downstream flows and associated aquatic habitat. The USACE also found Pebble can make a significant socioeconomic contribution to the Bristol Bay region, its residents and communities, as well as to state and local governments.

“In completing our comprehensive technical and legal review of the final EIS for the Pebble Project, a document comprising more than 2,000 pages plus appendices, I can confirm that it describes a project of considerable merit that will fully protect important environmental values in the project area, that will create tremendous benefits for Alaska’s people and governments, and one we expect to secure a positive record of decision later this summer,” said president and CEO Ron Thiessen.

“But don’t take my word for it. I encourage anyone with an interest in Pebble, in Bristol Bay fisheries, in the vibrant Indigenous cultures of southwest Alaska or the State of Alaska itself to find out for themselves by reading the final EIS executive summary and supporting documents,” added Thiessen.

While the USACE is the lead federal regulator for the Pebble EIS process, much of the work behind the scenes was completed by AECOM - the 3rd party EIS contractor selected in early 2018. AECOM is a globally recognized engineering, environmental, construction and infrastructure development firm with a long history of providing regulatory compliance and other professional services associated with the development of large, complex mineral and oil and gas development projects in Alaska and the United States.

Thiessen said AECOM’s extensive global experience and reputation as an engineering and environmental leader adds additional credibility to the EIS findings. He said the Final EIS, published July 24, 2020 is clear that development activities proposed at Pebble would not affect the number of adult salmon returning to Bristol Bay watersheds, nor the value of the fishery.

The final EIS also concludes that Pebble’s potential effects on fish and fisheries will be undetectable at the level of the Bristol Bay region as a whole (~40,000 sq. miles), within the two large drainage areas in which project facilities are located (~23,000 sq. miles), or even within the direct project area (~10 sq. miles).

Similarly, the final EIS finds that the proposed Pebble mine would not impact water resources in a manner that affects aquatic species or local communities.

Pebble’s potential to create 850 direct, high-wage jobs and 2,000 total jobs is widely expected to have a dramatic and positive impact, both regionally and state-wide. The final EIS points to a range of other positive socioeconomic benefits.

The final EIS finds an operating mine at Pebble would make significant contributions to local and state government revenues at a time when Alaska is facing a fiscal crisis related both to the COVID-19 pandemic and a substantial drop in oil and gas investment and commodity prices.

Importantly, the final EIS makes clear the Pebble Partnership proposes to employ a tailings storage facility design and operating protocols that preclude the type and scale of catastrophic failure seen in recent years in Brazil and British Columbia.

Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier noted the final EIS for the Pebble Project represents the first time an independent, expert regulatory body has comprehensively reviewed a development plan put forward by the project’s proponents. He called the document “the most relevant and defensible science-based assessment of the Pebble Project ever developed, and the administrative record upon which final permitting decisions will be made.”

“I’ve been involved in countless EIS processes over the course of my career, and can attest to the rigor, the attention to detail and objective care that the USACE and other federal, state and local cooperating agencies have put into this review process,” said Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier.

“I have every confidence in the legitimacy and the integrity of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ findings when it comes to Pebble, and that this final EIS document will ultimately prevail against any challenge - legal or otherwise - as the most appropriate administrative record upon which final permitting decisions at Pebble should and will be made,” added Collier.

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 (PLP), is a 100 percent interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit. PLP is the proponent of the Pebble Project, an initiative to develop one of the world’s most important mineral resources.

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