FILE - In this July 13, 2007 file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska near the village of Iliamma. A watchdog has found no evidence of bias in how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted a study on the potential effects of large-scale mining on a world-premier salmon fishery in Alaska's Bristol Bay region. The inspector general for the EPA also concluded in a report released Wednesday, Jan. 13, that the agency did not predetermine the study's outcome. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)

FILE - In this July 13, 2007 file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska near the village of Iliamma. A watchdog has found no evidence of bias in how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted a study on the potential effects of large-scale mining on a world-premier salmon fishery in Alaska's Bristol Bay region. The inspector general for the EPA also concluded in a report released Wednesday, Jan. 13, that the agency did not predetermine the study's outcome. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)

Watchdog: No bias in EPA’s study on mining in Bristol Bay

  • By Becky Bohrer
  • Wednesday, January 13, 2016 11:03pm
  • News

JUNEAU — A government watchdog found no evidence of bias in how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted a study on the potential effects of large-scale mining on a world-class salmon fishery in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region.

The inspector general for the EPA also concluded in a report released Wednesday that the agency did not predetermine the study’s outcome. The state of Alaska and the owner of the proposed Pebble Mine, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., were among those who asked for an investigation.

The EPA, petitioned by Alaska Native tribes and others to protect Bristol Bay, launched the study of the watershed in 2011. It concluded that large-scale mining threatened one of the world’s most productive salmon fisheries and posed risks to Alaska Native cultures that rely on fish.

The study was the basis for an agency proposal to restrict and potentially block development of what it says could be one of the largest open-pit copper mines in the world.

While the inspector general’s report found no bias, it determined that a now-retired EPA employee in Alaska used his personal email in 2010 to suggest edits to a tribal petition. That petition requested that the agency take action under the federal Clean Water Act to protect the Bristol Bay region.

An attorney for the tribes sent the document to the employee before it was submitted to the EPA, but it was unclear whether he reviewed it in a personal or official capacity, according to the report. It found no proof of anything illegal but that the worker may have misused his position.

The inspector general was not able to review all of the employee’s work emails, noting that the EPA said more than two years’ worth of messages were missing, and didn’t have access to his personal account. The employee’s supervisor said he didn’t know about the worker’s actions but they seemed inappropriate.

EPA regional administrator Dennis McLerran said the employee was not a decision maker in the case, and regardless, thousands of people were concerned about the effect of mining in Bristol Bay, prompting additional scientific review. The inspector general report shows the study was done with integrity and followed proper procedures, McLerran said.

Tom Collier, CEO of the Pebble Limited Partnership, the group working to advance the mine, called on Congress to continue its oversight of the EPA’s actions and said the group is not through arguing that the agency acted inappropriately “and perhaps illegally.”

He said Pebble showed the inspector general “incontrovertible evidence” that the EPA had reached final decisions before doing scientific study and manipulated the scientific process.

The partnership said in a statement that Collier was concerned that the inspector general could whitewash its investigation, so the group commissioned a study by former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen. Cohen concluded that the fairest route would have been to follow a permit application and environmental review process.

Pebble Limited Partnership sued over the study, alleging that the EPA was in cahoots with anti-mine activists. A federal judge ordered the agency to stop work on potential mine restrictions pending the outcome of the lawsuit, which has not been resolved.

The partnership has called the deposit one of the largest of its kind, with the potential of producing 80.6 billion pounds of copper, 107.4 million ounces of gold and 5.6 billion pounds of molybdenum over decades.

The inspector general report said it reviewed the processes used by the EPA to conduct its watershed study, poring over about 8,400 emails sent or received between Jan. 1, 2008, and May 18, 2012, for three current or former EPA employees. It also interviewed EPA staff and managers, Pebble’s CEO, attorneys for the state, and tribal representatives, among others.

McLerran of the EPA called the inspector general’s review independent and extensive.

More in News

A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Prescribed burns will produce visible smoke near highways

Burns are part of ongoing spruce beetle mitigation efforts

Alaska Department of Fish and Game logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Fish and Game comments on local proposals to Board of Fisheries ahead of work session

The requests ask the board hear fishing regulation proposals outside of their three-year cycle

Lisa Gabriel, left, watches as beach seine nets are pulled from the waters of Cook Inlet at a test site for the gear near Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Council throws support behind beach seine request to Board of Fisheries

Agenda change requests are proposals to the board to hear an issue outside of the board’s three-year cycle

A bike rack and repair station are seen outside of the Kenai Community Library in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai to install bike racks, repair stations

Kenai River Marathon proceeds will fund the project

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Man sought in connection to Wednesday shooting in Seward detained

A tip from the public helped troopers locate the man, according to a dispatch

Flyer for the 2024 Candidate Forum Series by KDLL 91.9 FM and the Peninsula Clarion. (Ashlyn O’Hara/KDLL 91.9)
Clarion and KDLL forums return this month for state races

Senate District D forum set for Monday with Bjorkman and Carpenter

Board of Education candidate Sarah Douthit and her supporters wave signs at the side of the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Uncontested races define municipal election

Preliminary results show few surprises, little support for South Peninsula Hospital bond

Shrubs grow outside of the Kenai Courthouse on Monday, July 3, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Penrod acquitted of 2022 murder charges

Penrod was arrested in 2022, after Penrod’s ex-fiancee told police that he had shot and killed her boyfriend

Alaska Christian College students, staff and other dignitaries gather as Styles Walker cuts the ribbon during a dedication ceremony for the college’s new athletic center at Alaska Christian College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Christian College dedicates ‘miracle’ athletic center

The facility is located at the Alaska Christian College campus near Kenai Peninsula College off of Kalifornsky Beach Road

Most Read