VANCOUVER, July 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Northern Dynasty
Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the
"Company") reports that the US Environmental Protection Agency
("EPA") has begun a process to withdraw a Proposed Determination it
issued under the Clean Water Act ("CWA") in 2014 that would
have restricted development of the Pebble Project in southwest
Alaska (see
https://www.epa.gov/bristolbay).
On May 12, 2017, EPA and Northern
Dynasty's wholly-owned subsidiary, Alaska-based Pebble Limited
Partnership ("Pebble Partnership" or "PLP"), reached a settlement
agreement that allows the Pebble Project to proceed into normal
course permitting under the CWA and National Environmental
Policy Act ("NEPA"). The federal agency's proposal to formally
withdraw its Proposed Determination further clarifies PLP's right
to proceed into normal course permitting unencumbered by any
extraordinary development restrictions, and complies with EPA's
legal obligations under the settlement agreement.
"The current administration at EPA is closely focused on
enforcing environmental standards and permitting requirements for
major development projects like Pebble in a way that is both
rigorous and robust, but also consistent in order to provide
predictability and an even-playing field for all resource
developers," said Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier. "It's an approach all Alaskans and
all Americans should support, because it has the benefit of
maintaining the high standards for environmental protection for
which the state and country are known, while attracting investment
in projects that create high-wage jobs and other much-needed
economic benefits in our country."
Collier said EPA Administrator Scott
Pruitt has stated he does not support the unprecedented
pre-emptive veto that his predecessor initiated at Pebble in
July 2014. However, Pruitt also made
clear his staff will follow the necessary steps to properly assess
and withdraw the Proposed Determination – an administrative process
that has now begun.
"Due process and open, transparent decision-making matters to
this administration," Collier said. "And that is something we both
accept and respect."
Collier expressed confidence that EPA will withdraw its Proposed
Determination at the conclusion of the administrative process
initiated today. The US House Committee on Science, Space and
Technology urged Administrator Pruitt to take such action back in
February 2017, stating that EPA
actions at Pebble were based on "a questionable scientific
assessment that relied on pre-determined conclusions," and that EPA
officials "acted with bias and predetermined conclusions aimed to
prevent this project and improperly expand EPA's authority under
the Clean Water Act."
Under the terms of its settlement with Pebble, EPA has agreed it
will not file a Recommended Determination under CWA Section 404(c)
until a final Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") for the Pebble
Project has been completed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (the
"Corps") – so long as that occurs within a period of four years
following the May 2017 settlement, and PLP applies for permits with
30 months of the settlement date. In return for these commitments,
PLP agreed to terminate two lawsuits it brought against EPA under
the Federal Advisory Committee Act and Freedom of
Information Act.
Northern Dynasty is now focused on qualifying and securing a new
major funding partner for the Pebble Project, while the Pebble
Partnership is advancing plans to initiate federal and state
permitting with a smaller, environmentally-optimized project
design. Both major project milestones – re-partnering and
initiating permitting under the CWA and NEPA – are expected to be
achieved in the near term.
"We believe the project design we are preparing to advance into
permitting, as well as the social and stakeholder programs and
commitments we are building around our project, will address many
of the priorities and concerns we have heard from stakeholders in
Alaska," said Northern Dynasty
President & CEO Ron Thiessen.
"We have every confidence that a permitting process led by the
Corps will be objective and science-based, and provide us an
opportunity to demonstrate that Pebble is a project of merit that
will provide very substantial benefits to the people and
communities of southwest Alaska,
the state and nation as a whole."
About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development
company based in Vancouver,
Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset, owned through
its wholly-owned Alaska-based US
subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership and other wholly-owned
subsidiaries, is a 100% interest in a contiguous block of 2,402
mineral claims in southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit. The
Pebble Partnership is the proponent of the Pebble Project, an
initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral
resources.
For further details on Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Project,
please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com or
contact Investor services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review
Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at
www.sec.gov.
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, approvals, licenses and
title on a timely basis and delays due to third party opposition,
changes in government policies regarding mining and natural
resource exploration and exploitation, the final outcome of any
litigation, completion of pre-feasibility and final feasibility
studies, preparation of all necessary engineering for surface or
underground mining 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 filings 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.