VANCOUVER, Feb. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Northern Dynasty
Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the
"Company") announces that the US House Committee on Science, Space
and Technology has called on the new Administrator of the US
Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to rescind the federal
agency's 2014 regulatory action under Section 404(c) of the
Clean Water Act to pre-emptively veto Alaska's Pebble Project.
A February 22, 2017 letter to EPA
Administrator Scott Pruitt from
Committee Chairman Lamar Smith
states: "The Committee recommends that the incoming Administration
rescind the EPA's proposed determination to use Section 404(c) in a
pre-emptive fashion for the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay,
Alaska. This simple action will allow a return to the
long-established Clean Water Act permitting process and stop
attempts by the EPA to improperly expand its authority.
Moreover, it will create regulatory certainty for future
development projects that will create jobs and contribute to the
American economy."
Since 2014, Northern Dynasty and its 100%-owned subsidiary
Pebble Limited Partnership ("Pebble Partnership") have advanced a
multi-prong strategy – including litigation, Congressional
outreach, independent investigations, among other initiatives – to
encourage EPA to withdraw its unprecedented regulatory action
against Pebble. The Congressional Science, Space and Technology
Committee has held several Pebble-related hearings in recent years,
finding that EPA actions concerning the mineral development project
in southwest Alaska were based on
"a questionable scientific assessment that relied on predetermined
conclusions," and that "EPA employees colluded with Pebble Mine
opponents to stop the project."
The US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology's letter
to EPA Administrator Pruitt can be read here.
Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ron
Thiessen said the Committee's letter provides even greater
impetus for EPA Administrator Pruitt to take timely action to
reverse what many see as one of the leading examples of EPA
over-reach, and return the Pebble Project to normal course
permitting and the rule of law.
"All we have ever asked is for the opportunity to propose a
comprehensive development plan for the Pebble Project, and to have
it fairly and objectively reviewed against the extremely rigorous
environmental standards and permitting requirements enforced in
Alaska and the United States. Today, we are one step
closer to earning that opportunity.
"We thank the Committee and staff for its careful and consistent
scrutiny of the troubling issues that have characterized the EPA's
treatment of the Pebble Project over the years, and its commitment
to the well-established federal and state permitting process under
the Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy
Act."
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 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 or the
outcome of litigation. 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.