The highly anticipated study is out. The EPA has just released a new draft of its study on the impacts of the Pebble Mine to the Bristol Bay fishery – the largest wild salmon fishery on Earth. The kicker?
The new draft identifies even larger impacts to the salmon fishery from the proposed Pebble Mine than before.
At the maximum sized mine studied by the EPA (6.5 billion tons), the study finds that even under routine operation, the mine would likely result in:
- the loss of up to 90 miles of streams from the mine footprint alone,
- harm to up to 35 miles of streams from reduced stream flow, and the
- loss of 4,800 acres of wetlands.
And, that doesn't even begin to account for the range of impacts from various failures that could occur at the mine.
The science couldn't be more clear. The impacts to salmon and salmon habitat are staggering. There should be no more delays. The EPA has the authority under Section 404c of the Clean Water Action to restrict the disposal of mine waste into Bristol Bay waters. Now it needs to use that authority.
Please join us in calling on President Obama and the EPA to protect the world's greatest wild salmon runs, and all of those who depend on it. Together, we can protect this amazing ecosystem, and the 14,000 jobs it supports!
http://bit.ly/EPA-BristolBay