Washington AG Submitted Comments Highlighting Major Flaws in Army Corps’ Pebble Mine Impact Analysis

JULY 1, 2019

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson submitted comments criticizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ draft environmental impact statement for a massive proposed mining project in the Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska. In the comments, AG Ferguson described in detail his state’s economic, cultural and academic ties to Bristol Bay, and in particular to the region’s world-class wild salmon fisheries, which could be significantly degraded if the proposed “Pebble Mine” project is allowed to proceed. AG Ferguson’s comments outlined numerous deficiencies in the Army Corps’ assessment, including the “erroneous and egregious” conclusion that the project will not affect local salmon populations, and the failure to meaningfully analyze the devastating impacts of a potential tailings dam failure. The comments also warned that the project “will fundamentally shift the character of the area from a wild, pristine, and undeveloped region ... to a mining district” — an outcome that received only cursory consideration despite its wide-ranging, irreversible implications.