Congress Weighs in Against Pebble Mine

September 14, 2011

NRDC Switchboard Blog – Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) recently said that she would oppose development of Pebble Mine – one of the world’s largest mines – in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed should it potentially harm the world-famous salmon runs there. In a letter sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday, Senator Cantwell supported EPA’s decision to conduct a thorough scientific assessment of the effect a large-scale development project like Pebble Mine would have on the Bristol Bay watershed.

Senator Cantwell is right on the money. Developing the Pebble Mine – a two mile wide, 2,000 foot deep open pit that would generate over 10 billion tons of contaminated mining waste – at the headwaters of the world’s most productive wild salmon fishery is a colossally bad idea. As Senator Cantwell said in her letter, Bristol Bay’s salmon population is an “economic lynchpin” for commercial fishermen in both Alaska and Washington.

In fact, salmon are the lynchpin of the entire Bristol Bay ecosystem, supporting the $450 million per year commercial and sports fishing, seafood, hunting, and tourism industries in the region. In addition, Alaska Natives have depended on these salmon to feed their families for thousands of years. Salmon also support a vast array of wildlife – including bears, whales, seals, eagles, moose and caribou – all drawn by the same lure: tens of millions of thrashing salmon and the nutrient-rich environment the salmon create when they spawn and die.

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