VANCOUVER, July 18, 2014 /CNW/ - Northern Dynasty Minerals
Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the
"Company") reports that while today's announcement from the US
Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") Region 10 is only a
proposal at this time, we note the agency is seemingly moving away
from pre-emptively vetoing the Pebble Project in favor of imposing
specific conditions on future development
That said, we do not accept that EPA has the
statutory authority to impose conditions on development at Pebble,
or any development project anywhere in Alaska or the US, prior to the submission of a
detailed development plan and its thorough review by federal and
state agencies including review under the National Environmental
Policy Act ("NEPA").
Moreover, EPA's attempt to pre-emptively impose
conditions on future development at Pebble in the absence of
completing an Environmental Impact Statement ("EIA"), as is
required of every major development project in the United States, is causing significant and
even critical harm to our business interests and our abilities to
fairly advance our project. For this reason, we fully intend to
continue our litigation against EPA in order to halt the
pre-emptive and unprecedented regulatory process under Section
404(c) of the Clean Water Act, and invalidate the conditions
proposed by EPA Region 10.
It is important to remember that, in addition to
the lawsuit brought by Pebble and the State of Alaska against EPA, there are a
number of investigations yet underway with respect to EPA's Bristol
Bay Assessment and its pre-emptive regulatory process, including
one by the Office of the EPA Inspector General and another by the
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. There are also
two bi-partisan bills pending in the US House and Senate seeking to
clarify that EPA does not have authority to pre-emptively veto or
otherwise restrict development projects prior to the onset of
federal and state permitting.
In aggressively pursuing each of these remedies,
the Pebble Limited Partnership (the "Pebble Partnership") is aware
that the precedent established by EPA taking pre-emptive action at
Pebble would be devastating for the future of investment in the
State of Alaska and throughout
the United States. We have already
seen a group in Wisconsin seeking
pre-emptive action by the EPA on a mineral project in that
state.
EPA's proposal is based on a watershed
assessment that its peer reviewers found to be no better than a
screening document, and that EPA's professionals have recognized is
missing the information needed for a permitting decision.
EPA's proposal is also based on mining scenarios that are outdated
and, in any event, would never qualify for environmental permits.
Thus, the EPA's use of the Bristol Bay Assessment for its agency
decision making is fundamentally flawed as it is not scientifically
or technically defensible.
The correct, legal, and defensible way forward
is for EPA to suspend its pre-emptive 404(c) process and allow us
the full opportunity to have our project reviewed by federal and
state regulatory agencies, including EPA, under NEPA.
Finally, while we believe the conditions for
development at Pebble proposed by EPA Region 10 are misguided and
not based on sound science or regulatory precedent, we continue to
believe the project must be developed in a way that protects clean
water, healthy fish and wildlife populations, and the Alaska Native
communities that rely on them. The Pebble Partnership is committed
to working with EPA and other federal and state regulatory agencies
during the permitting process for the Pebble Project to ensure that
adequate protections exist for clean water, healthy fisheries and
other important natural resources, and that the 'spirit' of EPA's
proposed conditions are fulfilled.
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, that address
exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or
developments that the Company expects are forward-looking
statements. 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.
Assumptions used by the Company to develop forward-looking
statements include the following: the Pebble Project will obtain
all required environmental and other permits and all land use and
other licenses, studies and development of the Pebble Project will
continue to be positive, and no geological or technical problems
will occur. 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.