The Environmental Protection Agency is sticking with its veto of the proposed Pebble Mine project in southwest Alaska.
Northern Dynasty, the parent company behind the Pebble project, is still suing to get the veto overturned. A document filed in that lawsuit early this month said the company and the EPA were in settlement talks, and that the Trump administration said it was open to reconsidering the Biden-era veto on the controversial mining project.
But on July 17, attorneys in the case filed another document to update the judge. It says that negotiations between the company and the EPA did not reach a resolution, and that the Trump administration will continue to back the veto.
The proposed site for the copper and gold mine is upriver from Bristol Bay, home to the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery. The mining project is unpopular in the region, where many people believe the open-pit mine would put the salmon run at risk.
Karla Jensen is an environmental specialist from Pedro Bay. Her village is close to the proposed mining site. She says that after the veto of the project in 2023, many of the mine's opponents felt relieved but remained wary.
"It reminded me of a cancer," Jensen said. "Some people were like, 'We don't have to worry about that… I don't have cancer anymore.' But you always have that nagging in the back of your mind that it can always come back."
The Pebble Limited Partnership is now asking the court to rule on whether the veto is lawful.
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