PROTECTING
WILD ALASKA
An overhead view of the Pebble Mine deposit area. In late May the Environmental Protection Agency’s Proposed Determination recommended further protection for the Bristol Bay watershed from projects like the copper and gold mine the Pebble Partnership wants to dig. (EPA)
EPA RECOMMENDS ADDED PROTECTIONS FOR BRISTOL BAY BY CHRIS COCOLES
A
fter delaying its Proposed Determination amid pleas to implement more permanent protection for the Bristol Bay watershed, the Environmental Protection Agency recommended what Pebble Mine opponents have called for. On May 26, the EPA’s revised report called for these new mandates “under
Clean Water Act Section 404(c) to prohibit and restrict the use of certain waters in the Bristol Bay watershed as disposal sites for the discharge of dredged or fill material associated with mining the Pebble Deposit.” “If finalized, EPA’s Section 404(c) determination would help protect the Bristol Bay watershed’s rivers, streams,
and wetlands that support the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery and a subsistence-based way of life that has sustained Alaska Native communities for millennia,” the EPA continued. EPA administrator Michael S. Regan cited Bristol Bay and its plentiful salmon runs as an example of a “vibrant ecosystem” that’s critical for a healthy
aksportingjournal.com | JUNE 2022
ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL
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