The Risks of the Pebble Mine Proposal

Proposed mining in the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve Credit: Renewable Resources Coalition

Roughly 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, and just north of Lake Iliamna, the Pebble Limited Partnership (commonly called the Pebble Partnership of Anglo American PLC and Northern Dynasty Minerals), intends to build the Pebble mine, consisting of what would be the largest open pit mine in North America, and an additional large underground block-cave mine. Owners hope to excavate billions of tons of raw ore, primarily seeking significant quantities of copper, gold and molybdenum, along with smaller yields of silver, palladium and rhenium.

This pristine wilderness, which includes prime spawning habitat for the world's most productive wild sockeye fishery, would be devastated by the Pebble Mine.

• A overview of what's at risk (and fact sheet)
• Acid rock drainage and metal leaching at the Pebble Mine
• Fisheries impacts at the Pebble Mine
• Comparison of the Fraser River and Bristol Bay salmon fisheries (O'Neal, Woody, 2011)
• Ecological risk to Bristol Bay wild salmon systems (The Nature Conservancy, October 2010)
• MAP: Proposed Mining in the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve
• Bristol Bay's salmon ecology 101
• Seismic risk at the Pebble Mine
• Waste disposal at the Pebble Mine
• Water-related impacts at the Pebble Mine

EPA Study Released:
Pebble Mine Will Have Severe Consequences for Salmon Streams

Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed supports the most productive wild sockeye salmon fishery in the world. In response to local concerns from Alaska Native Tribes and commercial fishermen, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just released a study about the threat of the Pebble Mine to the Bristol Bay fishery.

The study highlights the global significance of the Bristol Bay fishery, and outlines the severe consequences to salmon streams if the Pebble deposit is mined. Learn more about the study findings.

It now makes sense for the EPA to use its Clean Water Act authority to protect Bristol Bay.