Northern Dynasty Minerals (NDM.TO) announced on Wednesday that two Alaska native village corporations had sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its veto against the Canadian miner’s proposed Pebble mine in the state’s southwest region. Iliamna Natives Limited and Alaska Peninsula Corporation, representing the communities closest to the copper and gold mining project, claimed in their lawsuit that the EPA exceeded its authority with the veto.
This lawsuit follows the one Northern Dynasty filed in March against the EPA’s 2023 decision to prohibit the discharge of mining waste in Alaska’s Bristol Bay due to concerns that the materials would degrade the watershed and harm vital fishing ecosystems.
John Shively, CEO of the Pebble project, criticized the opposition to the mine, stating, “Those who oppose Pebble have not provided any alternative that would improve the economy of this area. These two Native Village Corporations understand that the EPA and our opposition care little about their future.”
The EPA, maintaining that the project would permanently destroy more than 2,000 acres of wetlands protected by the Clean Water Act, declined to provide further information, citing the pending litigation. The proposed Pebble mine, aiming to tap one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits, has undergone a lengthy approval and permitting process for decades, yet its construction has not started.
