Cantwell aims to halt Alaska gold mine

September 11, 2011

Seattle Times – In a high-stakes battle that pits gold and copper against fish, members of Congress are scrapping over a plan to build one of the world’s largest open-pit mines in southwest Alaska.

Fearing that toxic wastes from the mine could hurt the wild salmon population in Washington state, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell entered the fray Monday. She asked the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider using the Clean Water Act — if necessary — to stop the proposed Pebble Mine project on Bristol Bay.

Cantwell, a second-term senator and a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, became the first senator to issue such a call. She’ll face opposition from Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, who already has introduced a bill that would strip the EPA of its authority to halt the project.

While supporters are excited about the mine’s potential to create thousands of jobs, environmental groups and other critics worry that the project would have a devastating impact on wildlife, including seals, caribou, moose, grizzly bears and migratory birds. The bay supplies nearly half of the world’s annual sockeye-salmon harvest.

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