Further legal battles and protesters “standing in front of bulldozers” could be in store in Alaska, after the Trump administration on Friday settled a lawsuit over the proposed development of a massive gold and copper mine at the headwaters of one of the state’s main salmon fisheries.

The Environmental Protection Agency settled the long-running case with the Pebble Ltd Partnership, allowing the Canadian-owned company to seek a federal permit to build its mine near Bristol Bay.

Bristol Bay produces nearly half of the world’s wild sockeye salmon catch, with the commercial fisheries supporting about 14,000 full and part-time workers. Conservation groups and many locals, including tribal members, believe the project will cause significant harm to the environment.

The bay is considered a vital resource by the indigenous people who have lived in the region for more than 4,000 years. Two native communities beside the bay – the Yup’ik and Dena’ina – are among the last indigenous people in the world to rely upon salmon for food and social structure.

The Pebble mine is forecast to create about 1,000 jobs. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said on Friday it would also create 10bn tons of waste that could contaminate the headwaters of Bristol Bay.

“Bristol Bay is too important – economically, environmentally, and culturally – to be sacrificed for the sake of a mine,” said Taryn Kiekow Heimer, senior policy analyst at NRDC. “The Trump administration’s willingness to set aside that proposed determination is a disaster. Instead of making America great, it risks America’s greatest wild salmon runs.”

Norman Van Vactor, with the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, said on Thursday the next challenges to the project could include additional legal fights and “standing in front of bulldozers”.

Northern Dynasty has called the Pebble deposit “one of the greatest stores of mineral wealth ever discovered” – containing copper, gold, molybdenum and silver. It has been looking for a partner since 2013, when a subsidiary of UK-based Anglo American announced it was withdrawing from the project.

The dispute dates back to 2014, following the release of an EPA study that concluded large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed posed significant risk to salmon and could adversely affect Alaskan Native Americans. The study provided the basis for the EPA to invoke a rarely used process under the federal Clean Water Act that mine supporters feared could result in the project’s veto before the permitting process.

The company accused the EPA of being in cahoots with mine opponents with a goal of blocking the project. The EPA, in court documents, characterized Pebble’s claims as an effort to undermine its plan to protect parts of the Bristol Bay region from development. A review by the EPA inspector general found no evidence the agency acted improperly. It also concluded that the agency did not predetermine the study’s outcome.



The two sides had been exploring ways to resolve the case since August, when Barack Obama was still in office. The mine has been hotly debated for years. Environmental activists like the actor Robert Redford have opposed it and multinational jewelers have said they will not use minerals mined from it.

While the EPA proposed restrictions on development, they were never finalized. A judge ordered the agency to stop work while the lawsuit was pending. Officials for Pebble have argued that the EPA overreached and expressed hope that the company will get a fairer shake with the Trump administration than it believes it got under Obama.

On Friday Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s controversial appointment to lead the EPA, said: “We understand how much the community cares about this issue, with passionate advocates on all sides. The agreement will not guarantee or prejudge a particular outcome, but will provide Pebble a fair process for their permit application and help steer EPA away from costly and time-consuming litigation.”



Northern Dynasty Minerals, the owner of Pebble, welcomed the deal.

“Not only are we no longer facing extraordinary development restrictions at Pebble, we will also be assured a fair and predictable permitting review of our proposed development plan,” chief executive Ron Thiessen said.

Tom Collier, chief executive of Pebble, said the latest iteration of the mine would be smaller than previously envisioned, along with “a number of new initiatives to ensure our project is more responsive to the priorities and concerns of Alaskans”.

“We know the Pebble project must not only protect the world-class fisheries of Bristol Bay,” he said, “it must also benefit the people of the region and the state in a meaningful way. It is our intent to demonstrate how we will meet those goals in the period ahead.”