The proposed open pit mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay was voted down by locals in a ballot initiative. At risk are the largest sockeye salmon runs in the world. Residents of Lake and Peninsula Borough where the huge mine would be operated by Anglo-American Mining Co. voted in October against any large scale mining despite an intense public relations campaign by a consortium of mining interests named Pebble Partnership. The miners also resorted to legal action to block the initiative but a state court ruled against them. The mine would generate an estimated 10 billion tons of waste material that would have to be stored indefinitely on top of an active earthquake zone. The
salmon industry, worth $450 million in economic activity, is overwhelmingly against the mine proposal. Mine pollution also threatens the survival of the last 340 beluga whales living in Cook Inlet. Despite the initiative results and a statement by its CEO that the mine would not be excavated if locals are against it, Anglo-American has returned to court to invalidate the results. It claims it has a legal right to pollute salmon streams with contaminated mining wastes, and end a sustainable way of life that has existed for thousands of years. The fight is not yet over; go to
StopPebble.org.
