Court Delivers Double-Whammy Over Pebble
Friday, the Alaska Supreme Court issued two decisions that will have far-reaching impacts about how the Department of Natural Resources conducts business in hard rock mineral exploration, and the ability of the State and others to chill opposition. While the two cases involved the Pebble Prospect exploration, neither will impact the development of that mine. Background In 1988, Teck Cominco drilled the first exploration wells in what would become the 360 square-mile Pebble Prospect. By 2010, ownership of the Pebble claims would change hands from Teck Cominco to Northern Dynasty Minerals to the Pebble Limited Partnership. Collectively, those entities would…
Lead Developer Abandons Pebble Mine Plans
Many of us were hopeful when “Cyanide Cynthia” Carroll left Anglo American last year, and my thanks to Mr. Cutifani for his mastery of the obvious. Wrong Mine. Wrong Place. Within hours Northern Dynasty’s stock was falling fast. Anglo didn’t announce the plan on a Friday afternoon to give cover to the remaining partner. Apparently the decision didn’t come until well into the day on Sunday. In 2011, Northern Dynasty had put its 50 percent interest up for sale. It put the plan for the mine online. (I know, that made the whole “we don’t have a plan” thing a…
Bristol Bay Votes to “Save Our Salmon” from the Threat of Pebble Mine
Voters in the Lake and Peninsula Borough near Bristol Bay have had their say. After being blanketed with pro-Pebble mine propaganda telling residents that if the initiative passed it would jeopardize future projects like roads and airports and docks, the majority of the residents remain unconvinced. The Pebble Partnership has stated repeatedly that if local residents don’t want the mine, then there will be no mine. According to an October 2008 article on the Fast Company website, Anglo American’s CEO Cynthia Carroll said, “I will not go where people don’t want us. I just won’t. We’ve got enough on…
Supreme Court Allows “No Pebble Mine” Initiative on Ballot
The Alaska Supreme Court yesterday delivered some much needed good news. Yesterday in a 3-1 ruling, the court upheld a previous court’s ruling that the residents of the Lake and Peninsula Borough, should be allowed to vote on a ballot initiative in October. The initiative would restrict permitting of any large extraction project that could potentially harm salmon runs. Pebble Partnership sued to keep the measure from making it on to the ballot, arguing that the law would be unenforceable, and is inappropriate for a ballot measure. They even named the clerk who certified the measure in the lawsuit. Governor…
Parnell and Pebble Try to Silence Alaskans
I will argue with people about voting. More vehemently if they don’t vote than if they vote for someone different than me. No, candidates aren’t all the same, and it’s a form of freeloading if you don’t vote. If democracy were a religion, voting would be the sacrament. Alaskans have an amazing record of being forward-thinking on who could vote. In 1912, a Tlingit, Charlie Jones, voted in Wrangell. He was assisted by Tillie Paul Tamarre, and they were both arrested. A federal court granted Alaska Natives the right to vote in territorial elections and the charges were dropped. It…
EPA to Review Proposed Pebble Mine Project. Thanks, Feds! (we think…)
“We don’t need no stinkin’ feds telling us what to do!” Ah, the mantra of the 49th state. It’s true that there are many great points to support local governance. Communities themselves are often the best at determining what the needs of their residents are – especially in areas that don’t fit the “norm” of the country. In towns with no indoor plumbing, fuel at more than $10 a gallon, and communities where schools can be hundreds of miles apart, it’s understandable that Alaskans find it difficult sometimes to “go with the flow” and let those bureaucrats in DC legislate…
Pebble Mine, Dirty Gold, and the Corporate War on Alaska’s Salmon.
[This article is cross-posted at The Huffington Post] A lawsuit was filed today claiming that all Pebble Mine’s state permits violate the Alaska constitution. Skulduggery surrounding Pebble Mine? Imagine that. On the receiving end of these legal accusations is the State Department of Natural Resources. The suit was filed today on behalf of eight communities in the Bristol Bay area by plaintiffs including Vic Fischer, one of the drafters of the Alaska Constitution, and Bella Hammond widow of the revered Governor Jay Hammond who had previously said “I think Jay would first and foremost think of protecting that area, mainly the fish and…