Pebble Mine Project - Bristol Bay, Alaska

The Pebble Mine Project of Bristol Bay, Alaska is a projected mining activity that is possibly undergoing its coming about into the world. It is in a remote area, near the headwaters to tributaries of both the Nushagak and Kvichak rivers. This project is currently being debated over as to whether or not it should exist. The Pebble Mine Project of Bristol Bay, Alaska would inevitably become the largest open pit copper and gold mine in the world! Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) is the developer of the proposed mine project. This project would mine minerals such as copper, gold, molybdenum, pyrite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite and bornite along with certain amounts of covellite, chalcocite, digenite and magnetite. However, it mostly contains low-grade ore. Mine officials have reported that the minerals involved in this project are worth over $400 billion dollars! Many of these listed minerals are/ will be used in today's society. For example, copper is in high demand because it is a good conductor of electricity and will allow us to compete with the world's desire for more electronic machines. Copper is very significant in today's society because it accounts for a large percentage of modern technology. Without copper, we would has to resort to aluminum which doesn't really give us our "bang for our buck" and in turn, won't allow our technology to advance so rapidly and steadily. Also, gold itself is used in today's society for mostly personal uses. The rare-ness and quality of gold has enabled humans to long for it and create a strong demand for the mineral. By mining gold, there is lots of profit being made, which is the PLP's driving force for operating this mine project. 

 Mining is the process of extracting ores from a mine. Our group got picked to research about the Pebble Mine Project in Bristol Bay, Alaska. A mine isn't just set up right of way there is testing and data that needs to happen in order to determine if it will degrade the environment and how it will effect the people around it. A lot of mining corporations only focus on the economic benefits and don't see all the issues that will come about from the mine. Luckily the Environmental Protection Agency has a say in permitting the organization to develop a mine in a specific location. This has come in handy with the Pebble Mine, because the EPA will not permit them unless they prove that the mine will not effect the environment. 

At the Pebble Mine, the extraction and processing they want to do is pretty similar to other existing mines. Because the groundwater around the area is so free it runs from stream to stream making it very prone to pollution from toxins. The mine wants to have dewatering streams for the pit so they can recycle the water back in. They would need to take all the toxin out that gets in somehow in order to prevent copper toxin. The steps the miners want to do to extract copper and gold are, blast the bed rock, hallow the ore, then put it into a series of crushers that grind the rock in sandy patterns, then this causes the liquid to separate the metal from the ore, forming a copper concentrate. The copper would then be transported over 100 miles with a pipeline and shipped to smelters. This process could produce 10 billion tons of waste, which would need to be stored and monitored for forever, and it would cover a shocking 29 to 30 miles. Once the ore in the extraction is processed, it is stored in tailing's that are stored behind massive dams.

The result of tailing's and the process of extraction could be very degrading. Tailing's cause an individual problem right of way on its own. The by product of tailing's is sulfide iron and cyonide heap leaching. These sulfide minerals are called pirite. If the pirite messes with oxygen and water it will break down into weak sulfuric acid. Metals that are in a solution are called acid mine drainage. This acid pollutes all the water and can devastate the rivers, streams, and aquatic life for so long. The fish are prone to being poisoned, which will result in them dying. If so many are effected the whole population of fish could decrease and would hurt the ecosystem. 

From all of the degradation and pollution going on there would be A LOT of loss in species diversity. Pebble mine is right next to the last greatest wild sockeye of salmon fishery, where you can find up to 60 million salmon just in one spawning event. They are also easily sustained which means you can catch more.

These salmon are the main food source not just only for the human life in Bristol Bay but for all the wildlife. They pretty much feed the food web, meaning they have the whole ecosystem under control. There is about 28 miles of salmon in the streams. That is so much and with the little baby salmon in smaller lakes growing they would die off very quickly if this mine was to pass. The water would become all toxic from the pollution, causing the degradation of the different aquatic life. The protection of the the biodiversity would be totally let down with that toxins being uncontrollable. If the trailing;s were to leach out waste, the whole water system would be messed up. It would take so long to regain everything the Bay has. Without the salmon people would starve and so would the other animals. People would then not even have the other animals to rely on and the animals wouldn't

get to rely on each other. This unique functioning ecosystem should not be disturbed by a mine that could potentially destroy the whole lifestyle of this bay.

 As for the restoration/reclamation, if the Pebble Project does go through the U.S EPA has made sure to acknowledge the possible technologies that could help to protect the area such as to help waste water, to help with management, discharge, and to help prevent or minimize water quality impacts. Other options such as providing new habitats and improving the passages for the fish. Beaver dam removal would be ideal for the improvement of the passages.

 

 

 

Salmon in Bristol Bay is a big part of the food chain with grizzlies.

 

 

 

 

With the Pebble Mine Project, there are many relevant environmental laws that complicate and come into play withe the project. In section 404 of the Clean Water Act, it authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to "protect rivers and wetlands that are important to for fish spawning and wildlife habitat." Other areas like Bristol Bay that are extremely important use this protection to keep these important places pristine. Specifically in Bristol Bay, their salmon fisheries are greatly relied on for the economy and for social, cultural and ecological aspects. The National Environmental Policy Act also comes into play in section 404 of the Clean Water Act. NEPA, "requires the completion of an environmental impact statement (EIS) for major federal actions that may significantly affect the environment." When the EIS discovers the impact the Pebble Project is going to have on the waters, ecosystems and the environment around Bristol Bay, it will likely be triggered. The Pebble Mine project also interferes with section 7 of the endangered species act. This section requires them to consult with National Marine Fisheries Services and/or The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service to perform a biological assessment, if that assessment finds the project can threaten species and habitats there would be an issue and the project wouldn't likely move forward. With this project affecting the waters and habitats of these salmon fish, it would not be possible for it to move forward.

 Economically, the salmon fisheries set up a $300 million dollar economy and has been the livelihood of many Alaskans to this day. Overtime the mine could have a huge impact on the commercial fisheries the salmon provide. The area provides, "millions of dollars in jobs and food resources for Alaska Native Villages and commercial fishermen." Socially this could harm a lot of small business and people of the smaller villages who rely on the salmon pretty heavily.

An example of one of these small businesses is, Mark Palmer, President & CEO, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Seattle, Washington. Many of the jobs at Ocean Beauty are directly tied to "processing, canning, warehousing and delivering Bristol Bay sockeye salmon." There are many other companies like this who are tied to the fish of Bristol Bay, taking it away would also be harming all of these industries and businesses.

Works Cited: 

"2013 Bristol Bay Economic Report." Commercial Fishermen For Bristol Bay. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

"EPA Puts a Halt to Pebble Mine Project in Bristol Bay, Alaska." Triple Pundit RSS. Triple Pundit, 02 Mar. 2014. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

"Save Bristol Bay." Save Bristol Bay. Trout Unlimited, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

Snyder, Samuel. "Controversy in Bristol Bay: Coexistence, Mitigation, and Common Ground Over the Pebble Mine." Environment Magazine -. Environtment, Sept.-Oct. 2014. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

Alaska Gold. Perf. Frontline. Alaska Gold. PBS, 24 July 2012. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.

"Bristol Bay  ." Alaska Conservation Foundation Bristol Bay Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

"EARTHWORKS." EARTHWORKS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

 "Judge Halts Pebble Mine." Fly Fishing | Blog | Photos | Podcasts | Travel | Gear | and More - Moldy Chum. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

"Minera San Cristobal." Minera San Cristbal SA RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

"The Pebble Mine Report." Pebble Mine. Wild Salmon Center, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015. 
  
"The Pebble Mine Report." Pebble Mine. History Bean, 4 Aug. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://www.wildsalmoncenter.org/programs/north_america/pebblemine.php>.