EPA's pre-emptive Section 404(c) process is unauthorized,
unprecedented and unfounded
VANCOUVER,
April 30, 2014 /CNW/ - Northern
Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM) (NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern
Dynasty" or the "Company") reports that the Pebble Limited
Partnership ("Pebble Partnership" or "PLP") has submitted a
comprehensive response to the US Environmental Protection Agency's
letter of February 28, 2014, in which
the federal agency announced it would initiate a regulatory process
under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) to determine
whether to pre-emptively veto the Pebble Project, or whether and
how to establish restrictions on its development. Although PLP has
yet to propose a development plan for Pebble, EPA gave PLP until
April 29, 2014 to "demonstrate that
no unacceptable adverse effects to aquatic resources would result"
from the project.
"What is absolutely clear is that EPA's intent
to undertake pre-emptive action under Section 404(c) to restrict
development of the Pebble Project goes well beyond its statutory
authority as established by Congress, and would have the effect of
undermining the legitimate regulatory authority of the State of Alaska and the US Army Corps of
Engineers," said Pebble Partnership CEO Tom
Collier. "As EPA itself has admitted, it is an unprecedented
action. It will have far-reaching negative consequences for
investment and job creation in this country by turning the federal
permitting process on its head."
Collier points to an internal EPA memo that
acknowledges taking proactive action to veto or restrict
development at Pebble has "never been done before in the history of
the CWA," and will result in "immediate political backlash," and
"litigation." The memo also indicates EPA's ambition to vastly
expand its authority, calling the Pebble precedent a "model of
proactive watershed planning" that will allow it to undertake
'zoning' or 'watershed planning' over vast areas of state, private
and tribal lands throughout the United
States.
"The actions EPA is contemplating today go well
beyond Pebble," he said. "It is a precedent that will be leveraged
by environmental activist groups and will have a chilling effect on
investment and job creation throughout the country. Congress never
intended to grant EPA the authority to undertake proactive
watershed zoning over broad areas of state and private lands when
it passed the Clean Water Act, yet that is exactly what is
happening here."
PLP's submission argues that EPA's Bristol Bay
Assessment (An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon
Ecosystems of Bristol Bay Alaska, January 2014) provides an insufficient scientific
foundation for regulatory decision making. This is the case because
PLP has not yet submitted a proposed development plan for Pebble,
such that the mine scenarios presented in the Assessment are
speculative, do not employ modern mine engineering and
environmental management practices and approaches, and entirely
overlook compensatory mitigation for unavoidable effects on aquatic
habitat and wetlands.
Most importantly, the scientific inputs used and
analyses undertaken in the Assessment are of substantially lower
quality, less comprehensive and less definitive than the inputs and
analyses to be employed as part of an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) process under the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA). This fact is acknowledged by EPA's own
scientists.
"Despite three years of study, EPA hasn't
quantified any impact of any of its speculative mine scenarios on
any fishery in Bristol Bay," Collier said. "On that basis alone,
EPA simply hasn't demonstrated that mineral development at Pebble
will have an unacceptable adverse effect on the region's fisheries,
and so doesn't have the regulatory authority to veto future
development."
Finally, Northern Dynasty has submitted
information received via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
to the office of the EPA Inspector General which suggests the
federal agency had a pre-determined outcome for the Bristol Bay
Assessment, and had planned a veto of the Pebble Project under
Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act as far back as 2008. The
Inspector General is expected to announce whether it will launch an
investigation into EPA and its actions with respect to Pebble this
spring.
PLP is calling on EPA to suspend its Section
404(c) regulatory process, to wait for the submission of a proposed
development plan for Pebble and to participate fully in the NEPA
permitting process to come. Not only will this result in a more
comprehensive, transparent, inclusive and definitive project
review, EPA will also retain its authority to veto the Pebble
Project in future if it fails to adequately protect regional
fisheries.
"It's time to stop the madness," Collier said.
"NEPA is among the most admired and emulated environmental
protection and regulatory processes in the world. EPA should stand
down and let that process work for Pebble, with the full knowledge
that no environmental harm can occur in the interim."
To view the Pebble Partnership's April 29, 2014 submission to EPA in its entirety,
visit
www.northerndynastyminerals.com/ndm/Pebble_Bristol_Bay_Watershed_Assessment.asp.
About the Pebble Project
The Pebble Project is an initiative of the
Pebble Partnership to responsibly develop a globally significant
copper, gold and molybdenum deposit in southwest Alaska into a modern, long-life mine, which
will benefit not only the owner, but the people, culture and
industries of the State of Alaska,
as well as suppliers, consultants and industries in the Lower 48
United States of America.
A 2013 study authored by IHS Global Insight,
entitled The Economic and Employment Contributions of a
Conceptual Pebble Mine to the Alaska and United States Economies found
the Pebble Project has the potential to support 15,000 American
jobs and contribute more than $2.5
billion annually to US GDP over decades of production. The
IHS Global Insight study is available at
www.northerndynasty.com.
The Pebble Project is located 200 miles
southwest of Anchorage on state land designated for mineral
exploration and development. It is situated in a region of rolling
tundra approximately 1,000 feet above sea-level, 65 miles from
tidewater on Cook Inlet and presents favourable conditions for
successful mine site and infrastructure development.
About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and
development company based in Vancouver,
Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset is the Pebble
Project in southwest Alaska, USA,
an advanced-stage initiative to develop one of the world's most
important mineral resources.
Ronald W.
Thiessen
President & CEO
________________________________________________
Forward Looking Information and other
Cautionary Factors
This release includes certain statements that
may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this
release, other than statements of historical facts, especially
those that address estimated resource quantities, grades and
contained metals, are forward-looking statements because they are
generally made on the basis of estimation and extrapolation from a
limited number of drill holes and metallurgical studies. Although
diamond drill hole core provides valuable information about the
size, shape and geology of an exploration project, there will
always remain a significant degree of uncertainty in connection
with these valuation factors until a deposit has been extensively
drilled on closely spaced centers, which has occurred only in
specific areas on the Pebble Project. Although the Company believes
the expectations expressed in its forward-looking statements are
based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in
any way construed as guarantees of the ultimate size, quality or
commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project or of the Company's
future performance. The likelihood of future mining at the Pebble
Project is subject to a large number of risks and will require
achievement of a number of technical, economic and legal
objectives, including obtaining necessary mining and construction
permits, completion of pre-feasibility and final feasibility
studies, preparation of all necessary engineering for underground
workings and processing facilities as well as receipt of
significant additional financing to fund these objectives as well
as funding mine construction. Such funding may not be available to
the Company on acceptable terms or on any terms at all. There is no
known ore at the Pebble Project and there is no assurance that the
mineralization at the Pebble Project will ever be classified as
ore. The need for compliance with extensive environmental and
socio-economic rules and practices and the requirement for the
Company to obtain government permitting can cause a delay or even
abandonment of a mineral project. The Company is also subject to
the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as
general economic and business conditions. For more information on
the Company, Investors should review the Company's annual Form 40-F
filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at
www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.