Saving Bristol Bay: Alaska Brief Newsletter – September 2014
Dear Supporter:
Last month we all watched in horror as the tailings dam at the Mt. Polley copper and gold mine failed, dumping 1.9 billion gallons of tailings into the surrounding watershed. Nothing could have made the worst cast scenario for the Pebble Project in Bristol Bay and the world’s largest salmon run more real to Americans than this latest mining disaster.
At least one of tailings dams planned for the Pebble Project would be a much larger than the Mt. Polley dam that failed. Ultimately 11 billion tons of toxic mine waste would be generated by Pebble and contained by tailings dams. To show the scale of the proposed dams, Trustees created a simulation of the dam as it would look if it was placed over the National Mall in Washington DC. It dwarfs the Washington Monument and engulfs the entire mall and the Capitol building.
Trustees for Alaska has been working for nearly ten years to protect Bristol Bay from devastating impacts of the proposed Pebble Mine. Trustees and our clients are the only ones to take the fight straight to Pebble by directly challenging in court the State’s permitting of decades of exploration activities and water use. We will continue this work until the Pebble Project is permanently stopped.
Read the Top Ten Reasons for why we place defending Bristol Bay at the top of our priority list.
Sincerely,
Vicki Clark
Executive Director
Read the stories from this issue:
Seward Coal Facility Violates the Law
Board Member Bob Childers Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Peter O Mjos Joins the Board of Directors
Meet Legal Extern Brandon Cobb