Speak for the fish
If you’re in Alaska right now and thinking about fish, you’re not alone. Many Alaskans have headed to fish camp, set lines, brought in early hauls, and eaten the food they love.
Salmon bring people together. Salmon connect us to our families, cultures, and the waters and lands that keep us healthy.
Fishing defines Bristol Bay, home to the largest wild sockeye salmon fishery in the world. Photo by Donald Blank.
Right now, Alaska needs you to think about the future of salmon.
July 1 UPDATE: To make sure your comment letter is included for review under both the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act, submit your comments every way you can.
Use the online portal, email to drafteis@comments.pebbleprojecteis.com and poaspecialprojects@usace.army.mil, and send to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, ATTN: DA Permit Application 2017-271, Pebble Limited Partnership, 645 G Street, Suite 100-921, Anchorage, Alaska 99501. Include the permit application number in the subject line of your letter: POA-2017-00271.
If you love something, protect it
The proposed mine would destroy salmon streams, imperil a huge watershed that provides sustainable food and jobs to the Bristol Bay region, and require tailings dams to hold back toxic waste FOREVER.
A recent Wall Street Journal article revealed that some of the largest mining companies in the world have said that dams under their authority have failed stability tests—these are dams failures that could kills fish, animals, and people.
Yet, Pebble never analyzed the consequences from a a complete tailings dam failure, and the Army Corps didn’t force them to—the mining company essentially said that they didn’t think it was likely to happen and the agency waved them on by.
Here’s what you can do
The comment period for the draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Pebble mine ends July 1. Take a minute to let the U.S. Army Corps and your elected officials know that you want salmon protected.
Art by Jessica Thornton
Tell your Alaska senators that you want them to listen to the majority of Alaskans who oppose this mine and take a lead in holding industry and the agency accountable for protecting Bristol Bay.
Tell the Army Corps and the Alaska delegation that the “No mine, no action” alternative is the only choice for protecting Bristol Bay. .
Here are some key points to make when commenting on the draft EIS, but you can find more detailed concerns in a recent American Fishery Society letter that calls out the draft EIS for its flaws and recommends the no mine, no action alternative:
• The proposed Pebble mine is an existential threat to Bristol Bay fisheries, people and cultures.
• The proposed mine imperils the human rights of people who have relied on salmon for their existence for thousands of years.
• The proposed mine imperils the $1.5 billion commercial and sport fishing industries.
• The proposed mine will eliminate over 3,500 acres of wetlands and more than 80 miles of streams in the headwaters of Bristol Bay just to get operational.
• The draft EIS fails to look at the outcomes of a tailings dam failure, despite independent analysis showing that a failure could lead to a catastrophic loss of fisheries.
• The draft EIS fails to look at how the seepage of mining waste would affect downstream salmon.
• The draft EIS ignores Pebble’s lack of an economic feasibility assessment.