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| August 29, 2013 --- Vol. 07, No. 35 | August 2013
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Alaska News Nuggets
PEBBLE – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy Aug. 27 visited the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska during a tour of the state. The recently confirmed EPA administrator visited Dillingham, Iliamna and the Pebble Project site. The tour of the area where the enormous Pebble copper deposit is located is a departure from the itinerary of former EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, who did not visit the mine project site during her visit to the region. The EPA is currently finalizing the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, a study meant to assess the salmon and other ecological resources in the region and gain a better understanding of the impacts of large-scale mining on these resources. The study is a response to a request by an anti-Pebble coalition that petitioned the EPA to use its presumed veto authority under section 404(c) of the federal Clean Water Act to pre-emptively deny the Pebble Partnership discharge permits required to build a mine at the world-class copper-gold-molybdenum deposit. While this authority has never been used to deny a project the right to apply for permits, the EPA claims it has the power to do so. The agency, though, has said it will not make any determinations on how to apply the watershed assessment until the study is complete. McCarthy re-affirmed this stance, telling reporters that her visit to the region is a fact-finding mission, and a decision will be made only after the agency gets the science right. McCarthy’s visit to Bristol Bay was part of a larger trip focused on a week to highlight the President’s commitment to addressing climate change and its impact on Alaska. The tour included a visit to the Portage Glacier near Anchorage and a stop in Fairbanks to discuss ongoing air quality issues facing the Interior Alaska city.
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