1. Environmental Justice
Pebble Mine at Bristol
Bay
SUS-331 Cultural and Place Based Equity
April 4,2012
By: Jason E Evitt

2. Bristol Bay

3. Other Copper/Gold Mines

4. Pebble Mine
• The Pebble Mine would extract gold, copper and
molybdenum, but the ore is low-grade and filled
with sulfur.
• This risky development would staddle two of the
Bay’s most important salmon streams in the
Kvichak and Nushagack River drainages.
• It would be a 2,000 foot deep open-pit gold and
copper mine stretching over 2 miles.
• P.M. would create gigantic dams and enormous
amounts of waste including cyanide, sulfuric
acid, arsenic and other toxic chemicals.*

5. Pebble Mine
• The industrial infrastructure would include
transmission lines
• 86 miles of shipping roads
• The dredging of Cook Inlet- home to the
endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale- for a
new deep water shipping port
• A 100 mile road into wilderness
• Construction of a power plant big enough
to supply the city of Anchorage

6. Pebble Mine
• The mine will siphon 70 million gallons of
freshwater a day- nearly 35 billion gallons
per year, critically reducing flow to multiple
salmon rivers.
• The mine would sit in an earthquake-
prone area near the Lake Clark fault, a
135-mile tectonic zone, and just 125 miles
north of the site of the infamous 1964
earthquake- the largest in North American
history.
• P.M. would create permanent destruction

7. Pebble Mine

8. The Multinational Mining
Companies
• The Pebble Mine is proposed by a 50:50
joint venture between UK based Anglo
American and Canadian company
Northern Dynasty
• Report by Nunamta Aulukestai, a coalition
of 9 village corporations leading the effort
to stop the mine.*
• Investor advisory released Feb 22, 2012*

9. Intentional Deception
• The illusion of local, Native support*
• Nuna Resources*

10. Proponents
• Iliamna Village Native Corporation
supports the project.
• Proponents argue that the mine will create
jobs, provide tax revenue to the state of
Alaska, and reduce American dependence
on foreign sources of raw materials.
• According to the Pebble Partnership, the
mine would create about 1,000 long term
jobs.

11. Opposition to the Pebble Mine
• Opponents argue that the mine would
adversely affect the entire Bristol Bay
watershed and that the possible
consequences to fish populations, when
effluents escape planned containments,
are simply too great to risk.
• Thousands of local jobs are supported by
the sustainably-managed salmon fishery.
• There has been a barrage of legal,
political and regulatory hurdles over the
last year.

12. Opposition to the Pebble Mine
• 54% of Alaskans oppose Pebble when
they support oil, mining, tourism and other
industries
• 81% of Bristol Bay Native Corp. oppose
• Sea to Table is teaming with Chefs
Collaborative and Trout Unlimited
• The Food Market Institute*
• Bristol Bay Regional Seafood
Development Association*

13. Opposition to the Pebble Mine
• Over 50 leading US and UK jewelers,
including Tiffany & Co., with sales of $5.5
billion have launched the “No Pebble
Pledge” campaign.
• Nearly 30 investors*
• Citizen Review*
• The Nature Conservancy studied the
project and concluded the risks to wild
salmon populations are “very high.”

14. Wildlife of Bristol Bay

15. EPA’s Watershed Assessment
• In response to requests from the Bristol Bay
commercial fishing industry and the Bristol Bay
Native Corporation.
• Supported by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and
Washington Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty
Murray.
• Supported by investors representing $170 billion
assets and 13 million shares of Anglo American
• Congress will conduct a hearing on the project
by June 2012.
• EPA will release results from a scientific
assessment in April 2012

16. Formosa Mine Superfund Site
• This 76 acre site in Oregon in the South
Umpqua drainage was a copper/zinc mine.
• In 1997, the acid mine drainage control system
failed and toxic pollution was released into the
South Fork of Middle Creek and elsewhere
downstream.
• 18 miles of fish habitat below the mine was
severely degraded and the fishery was
destroyed.
• Taxpayers are now footing the bill to clean up
the Formosa Mine, a small fraction of the size of
the Pebble Mine projected at 54.5 square miles.

17. Wildlife of Bristol Bay

18. Bristol Bay Salmon Fishery
• Alaska’s Bristol Bay Fishery is the world’s
largest wild sockeye salmon fishery.
• Up to 40 million sockeye salmon return to Bristol
Bay each year.
• The US Dept of Fish and Game forecasts 21
million sockeye salmon will be harvested from
Bristol Bay in 2012.
• It is the economic engine for the region,
generating $318 to $573 million in annual
revenue and roughly 10,000 jobs.
• Salmon are acutely sensitive to pollution.
• 2 ppb of copper dust in the water can affect their
ability to naturally navigate and spawn.

19. Sockeye Salmon

20. Bristol Bay
• There are stunning king salmon, the
largest run in Alaska, and trophy rainbow
trout along with several other fish species.
• The salmon support an abundance of
bears, whales, seals, eagles and Natives.
• B.B. is home to orcas, beluga whales, wild
moose, caribou, river otters, wolverines,
porcupines, red fox, and mink.
• B.B. is 1 of only 2 populations of
freshwater harbor seals.

21. A Salmon Based Economy

22. Hard Rock Mining
• The US BLM wants to open a million
adjacent acres to hard-rock mining in this
pristine watershed.
• The massive investment in infrastructure
that the Pebble Mine would require- roads,
pipelines, a shipping port- will likely lead to
more mining proposals.
• According to the EPA, the hard-rock
mining industry is the single largest source
of toxic waste in the country.

23. Inevitability
• Every large copper/gold mine in the world
has had environmental disasters that have
ruined the waters and wildlife around
them.
• EVERY ONE OF THEM!!!

24. Pertinent Videos
• http://www.youtube.com/embed/U0odIwjRpAk?rel=0&wmode=
• http://youtu.be/YeQcypNbg0k
• http://www.youtube.com/w

25. Sources:
• http://juneauempire.com/state/2012-03-19/native-cor
• http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/epa-seeks-exp
• http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/epa-seeks-exp
• http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/935811/food-retail-in

26. Sources:
• http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/27694721
• http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/time-protect-br
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_Mine
• http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/2012022
2005385/en/pebble-mine/investor-risk/bristol-
bay

27. Sources:
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-
hanlon/genetically-engineered-
fish_b_1321434.html
• http://sea2table.com/content/no-pebble-
bristol-bay
• http://www.savebiogems.org/stop-pebble-
mine/
• http://www.wildsalmonprotection.com/facts
.php