ALASKA GOVERNOR, STATE URGE SUPREME COURT TO REVERSE PEBBLE MINE PROTECTIONS

BY CHRIS COCOLES

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy (R) has never been shy about what his priorities are when it comes to the state’s natural resources, and mining, drilling and other projects.

Dunleavy has repeatedly leaned towards approving the Pebble Mine project despite the opposition that ar- gues Bristol Bay’s massive salmon runs would be put at risk. The Environmental Protection Agency said as much in January when it all but killed the project via Clean Water Act safeguards.

Two years before, when the US Army Corps of Engineers changed course and rejected the permit for the proposed mine, the governor made it clear he’d fight for the gold and copper operation.

“We have to prevent a federal agency, in this instance, the Alaska District of the Army Corps of Engineers, from using the regulatory process to effectively prevent the state from fulfilling a constitutional mandate to develop its