Today, the New York State Comptrollerjoined the California State Treasurer in urging First Quantum Minerals, a potential investor in the proposed Pebble Mine, to rethink its plan to invest in the highly controversial Pebble project.
Pebble is a massive copper and gold mine proposed in the headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay – threatening the world’s largest and most productive wild salmon fishery. Through their state pension funds – two of the largest in the nation - New York and California are major shareholders in First Quantum.
In today’s letter, New York Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, says, “In my view, participation in the Pebble Project would be the antithesis of sustainable business practices and could create undue risk to the long-term value of the Fund’s investments in First Quantum Minerals and to the sustainability of the Bristol Bay region.” “I expect a corporate commitment that First Quantum Minerals will not proceed with its involvement in the Pebble Project in the absence of full consideration of regional economic and environmental impact and all required licensing.”
Even the Trump Administration recognizes the severe risk presented by the Pebble Project. In an unexpected turn of events, the EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, announced on January 29, 2018 that it would reverse course and retain proposed protections for the Bristol Bay fishery that place limitations on mine waste disposal in Bristol Bay waters.
In the EPA release, Pruitt states, “Based on that review it is my judgement at this time that any mining projects in the region likely pose a risk to the abundant natural resources that exist there.”
There’s no denying the tremendous value of those natural resources. Roughly 40-60 million wild salmon return to Bristol Bay every year – providing nearly half of the world’s supply of wild sockeye salmon.
It’s no wonder that the people of Bristol Bay have spoken out against Pebble in no uncertain terms: Salmon come first.
As the director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay stated in a recent Op-Ed: “Bristol Bay's salmon have fed the world. They are a natural resource unlike any other: They have the power to regenerate themselves, year after year. Ad infinitum. But that is only possible if we make the right management decisions today. A Pebble mine, big or small, cannot co-exist with our fishery. Pebble will always be the wrong mine, in the wrong place. And the people of Bristol Bay will never trade our fish for gold.”