WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Wednesday denied a key permit for a massive gold and copper mine in Alaska, striking a devastating blow to a project opposed by an unlikely coalition that includes the president’s son and other prominent Republicans, as well as conservationists, commercial fishermen and Alaska Natives.
In a statement, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska Commander Col. Damon Delarosa said that a plan to deal with waste from the Pebble Mine “does not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines,” and that “the proposed project is contrary to the public interest.”
And an unlikely coalition of opponents formed when Presiident Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Vice President Mike Pence’s former chief of staff, Nick Ayers – who all have enjoyed fishing or hunting around Bristol Bay – joined with traditional environmental groups and the region’s tribes in opposition to the project.
PLP proposed earthen dams for tailings impoundments up to 740 feet high. The tallest U.S. water dam is 754 feet high.
The estimated depth of the open pit to be excavated is 1,700 feet – deep enough to swallow the Empire State Building, which measures a mere 1,453 feet.
I’m including this link to Orvis even though it’s quite dated. I think this is one of the articles that I read in perhaps 2008?
