Review shows dramatic shift in Army Corps of Engineers permitting

(Photo: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

A review of five years of Army Corps of Engineers permits for development in Alaska wetlands showed the corps had been requiring mitigation for fewer and fewer projects. The analysis by E&E News, a Washington D.C.-based news organization that covers energy and environment issues, showed that the corps allowed the destruction of thousands of acres of wetlands without requiring offsets for that development as it had in the past.

E&E News reporter Ariel Wittenberg dug into the details of the apparent policy shift in permitting at the Corps’ Alaska Region — for projects ranging from mines and dams, to roads and schools.

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Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him atcgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Caseyhere

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