Last week, the Supreme Court rejected Alaska’s bid to revive a proposed copper and gold mine that the Environmental Protection Agency blocked. The Pebble Mine is a proposed copper-gold-molybdenum mining project to be located in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region.
In January 2023, the EPA blocked mining of the Pebble Mine in certain waters of the Bristol Bay watershed. They did so, citing concerns about potential impacts on a rich aquatic ecosystem. One that supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.
Arguments that support the opening of the Pebble Mine include the economic gain from the extraction of the minerals. However, some oppose the Pebble Mine and support protections.
They believe the running mine would not only impact the world’s greatest sockeye salmon run. But it also jeopardizes thousands of American jobs and threatens the robust sport-fishing and tourism economy.
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As a result of the Supreme Court’s rejection, shares in Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM; NYSE: NAK) plummeted. Some analysts believe it was rejected because the case did not pass through the typical legal process.
Alaskan lawmakers, in support of the project by the Northern Dynasty, filed a motion in July last year. And it saw them asking the Supreme Court to overturn the EPA decision. They argued that the nation’s highest court had the authority to hear their case before lower courts reviewed the matter.
“Alaska tried to persuade the court that this is the rare kind of dispute that the justices should hear as a trial court, without having it go through lower courts first,” Steve Vladeck, Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law, said.
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Alaska can still try to reverse the decision, but only via the more typical process. They will have to begin in a lower court and appeal any unfavorable decisions to the Supreme Court.
“Although there’s no explanation accompanying today’s denial, it stands to reason that a majority of the justices disagreed and were willing to let the case go through ordinary litigation in the lower courts first,” he added.
The dismissal comes just over two weeks after Northern Dynasty announced financings of more than $23 million for the proposed mine. With such funding, it would have become North America’s largest copper, gold, and molybdenum extraction site.
The mine has been facing resistance for nearly two decades. This is due to its potential impact on nature and the communities that depend on it. Last January, the EPA sided with groups opposing Pebble by preventing mine waste storage in the Bristol Bay watershed.
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Despite the resistance, Northern Dynasty has not given up and has considered legal options to challenge the EPA. “The proposed mine for the Pebble project would provide good-paying, year-round employment for thousands of Alaskans, something desperately needed in southwest Alaska,” the company said.
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