No injunction for Pebble opponents

A lawsuit that aims to block mineral exploration at the Pebble Mine Project will proceed, but a preliminary injunction that would have halted exploration while the suit progressed was denied by a state Superior Court judge on Friday.

Had the injunction been granted, exploration permits already issued to the Pebble Partnership would have been suspended, effectively ending all exploratory activity at the site pending the outcome of a trial. If successful, the suit will not only shut down exploration at Pebble but also alter the way mining exploration is permitted in Alaska.

The suit was filed by Trustees for Alaska on behalf of Nunamta Aulukestai, a coalition of eight Alaska Native village corporations located in the Bristol Bay region, and five individuals, including former Alaska first lady Bella Hammond and constitutional convention delegate Vic Fischer.

This suit is also the first attempt to directly block exploration at Pebble, according to attorneys on both sides. A suit filed by tribal organizations in May against the Alaska Department of Natural Resources takes issue with the Bristol Bay area land use plan, but affects Pebble less directly.

Trustees for Alaska's complaint concerns the state's process for permitting mining exploration. The suit argues that as it stands right now there is no public notice or analysis until the development stage, and that by the time that stage is reached there have already been significant environmental impacts.

"The suit is a challenge to the state's permitting process for mining exploration," said Victoria Clark, Trustees for Alaska's legal director.

The suit seeks to block two types of permits granted at Pebble: miscellaneous land use permits and temporary water use permits. Trustees also asked that no new permits be granted while the suit moves forward, although Judge Craig Stowers denied that request. Trial is set for September.

"One of the outcomes if they were to prevail would be to redo the permitting structure in the state of Alaska," said Mike Heatwole, spokesperson for the Pebble Partnership. "That's a very significant piece because there are decades of practice here that are being questioned."

The attorney representing the partnership, Matthew Singer, said the plaintiffs want sweeping changes that would add new layers of red tape to the permitting process and would affect industries besides mining, such as timber, fish processing, and oil and gas.

"Part of what the plaintiffs want is absurd, which is a full cumulative impacts analysis of future development before any decision is made about the development," Singer said.

One of the reasons this case is novel, Clark said, is that there aren't many large mines in Alaska located on public lands, as Pebble would be. Although the Fort Knox gold mine near Fairbanks is located partly on state land, the Red Dog zinc mine operates on land owned by NANA Regional Corp. Inc., and Rock Creek Mine is located partly on land owned by the company that mines it, as well as on land owned by Native regional corporations.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources asked Stowers to dismiss the case, arguing that the state constitution does not require the degree of public input and analysis Trustees is demanding. The state constitution sets forth general guidelines for the permitting process that the Legislature must then develop into specifics, said Ruth Hamilton Heese, the assistant attorney general representing the state.

"This is an attack on the future of this mine," Heese said in court on Friday.

The Pebble Partnership is comprised of two companies: Anglo American, a large London-based mining company with operations in 45 countries, and Northern Dynasty Minerals, a smaller, Vancouver-based company whose principal asset is the Pebble Project.

According to the Pebble Partnership Web site, the mineral deposit in question -- located approximately 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, near Lake Clark -- contains an estimated 72 billion pounds of copper, 94 million ounces of gold, and 4.8 billion pounds of molybdenum, which is used in the manufacture of steel and superalloys.

The proposed mine has drawn vocal opposition, mainly due to the fact that the mine would be located near the headwaters of the rivers that feed Bristol Bay's salmon fisheries.