Anglo American, don’t mine near Bristol Bay

The London-based mining company Anglo American has recently invested in a proposed open-pit mine known as the Pebble project in the watershed of Bristol Bay. Through its Pebble Limited Partnership with Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals, Anglo is preparing to apply for state and federal permits to proceed.

Our delegation, representing Alaska Natives and the people of Bristol Bay, has journeyed to London to meet with Anglo American executives and shareholders and express our very deep concerns with, and our steadfast opposition to, the proposed Pebble mine, which if built, would ruin our watershed.

Over thousands of years, Alaska Native peoples have relied on the land that now includes the Pebble mining district. It has sustained our culture and lifestyle for countless generations and must for years to come. The rivers and creeks that feed into Bristol Bay from the mining area help produce the largest wild commercial sockeye salmon fishery on Earth. This sustainable and renewable resource is vitally important to our local economy and subsistence livelihoods.

Indeed, part of the income derived from the annual sockeye harvest ultimately comes from the United Kingdom. Most of the canned sockeye salmon consumed in the U.K. is caught in Bristol Bay. The proposed Pebble mine will certainly damage and permanently harm this treasure. As fishing families and as stewards for future generations, we cannot allow this to happen.

The Pebble Limited Partnership proposes holding billons of tons of mine waste behind massive earthen dams in one of the most seismically active areas on the planet. We know this as we have personally witnessed earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and violent storms here. We believe that there is simply no way the partnership can guarantee those structures would remain intact forever. Even if it could, the watersheds that support our fisheries, and thus our peoples’ culture and way of life would certainly be damaged from other mining activities. Please keep in mind the unique wet and cold environment and the sensitive habitat that this area provides for fish and other animals on which we subsist.

Read more here