FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Contact:
Andy Wink, Executive Director
Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association
907-677-2371

Sitka, AK - In response to the Army Corps of Engineers’ release yesterday of its Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) required for federal permitting of the proposed
Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska, Andy Wink, the Executive Director of the Bristol Bay
Regional Seafood Development Association released the following statement:

The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA), which is financially
supported by over 1,800 regional commercial fishing businesses and strongly opposes
large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed, is outraged at the irresponsible and
negligent conduct unfolding in the proposed Pebble Mine permitting process. A 90-day
comment period is far too short of a time period to review and comment on the recently
released Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The speed at which insufficient materials are being pushed through this mine’s permitting
process is irresponsible given that the Bristol Bay salmon ecosystem is a biological wonder
of the world. This region contains the world’s largest wild salmon runs, which have
supported a rich culture for millennia and sustained a thriving commercial fishery for more
than 130 years. The Bristol Bay region accounted for approximately half of the entire U.S.
commercial salmon harvest value last year (producing a preliminary salmon harvest of 233
million pounds worth $281 million to commercial fishermen).

Bristol Bay is home to the most valuable wild salmon fishery in the world and is the crown
jewel of Alaska’s salmon industry. Despite the presence of this global treasure, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) scoping reports were severely lacking and do not address
many important concerns raised during the public comment period. Specifically, the USACE
scoping report did not recognize the virtual certainty of acid mine drainage or how
contaminants would be hard to contain given the region’s porous hydrology, in addition to
many other shortcomings.

Astonishingly, the draft scoping report was released in May 2018 and is nearly identical to
the final scoping report released just a few months later in August 2018. Now, the USACE
plans to open a 90-day public comment period to review a massive Draft EIS document.

The lack of adequate time for public comment and the unresponsiveness of USACE’s final
scoping report to address public comments is neglectful to the people who rely on salmon
for survival and livelihood. The Pebble Limited Partnership claims the project will create
850 jobs during mine production, but these temporary, new jobs come at the risk of far
more existing jobs that rely on sustainable salmon runs. The Bristol Bay commercial fishery
directly employs 14,800 men and women in Alaska, and the fishery creates an additional
8,600 downstream and secondary U.S. jobs (Economic Benefits of the Bristol Bay Salmon
Industry, July 2018 – link). In fact, this fishery directly employs over three times as many
workers as Alaska’s entire metal and mineral mining sectors. In addition, there are
thousands more who rely on Bristol Bay salmon for subsistence purposes or sportfishing-
related jobs. All these stakeholders deserve a reasonable amount of time to understand
the Draft EIS and submit a public comment about a mining development which could
drastically alter the fate of their lives. Anything less is simply negligence on the part of
government.

Furthermore, even if large-scale mining and salmon can somehow coexist for eternity in
Bristol Bay, there will likely be irreparable damage to the consumer perception of Bristol
Bay salmon. The BBRSDA has invested over $1 million in marketing Bristol Bay salmon,
with promotions in over 1,000 U.S. stores last year. Pristine habitat is a key selling point for
Alaska salmon, and therefore a large, open-pit mine in the headwaters of Bristol Bay has
the very real potential to damage the value of fishery resources regardless of the mine’s
impacts on salmon habitats. A negative perception of the mine would likely affect Alaska
salmon fisheries in other regions too, similar to how the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill negatively
impacted markets for fisheries in regions unaffected by the disaster.

Our membership is also concerned that the USACE is not adequately considering the
findings of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Watershed Assessment which found that
a mine of this size would pose an unacceptable risk having the world’s largest open pit
mine using untested technology at the headwaters of the world’s largest wild salmon run.

The BBRSDA joins other local groups in calling for a longer comment period for the Draft
EIS, but fears this process is not thorough or objective and will end in a predetermined
outcome.

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About the BBRSDA: The mission of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association
(BBRSDA) is to increase the value of Bristol Bay seafood products for the benefit of fishermen.
The organization funds activities that promote fishery products, elevate fish quality at the point
of harvest, and support resource sustainability.