EPA moves to block gold and copper Pebble Mine project in Alaska

The Environmental Protection Agency said it intends to protect Alaska’s vibrant Bristol Bay fishing waters against the development of the massive proposed gold and copper Pebble Mine, following through on a campaign promise of President Joe Biden’s to kill the project.

The EPA filed a motion in federal court on Thursday announcing its plan to request that a decision by the Trump administration withdrawing an Obama-era block on the mine’s development be vacated. If a vacatur is granted, the agency said it would initiate a review under the Clean Water Act, under which the Obama administration had previously deemed the mine unsafe, and begin the administrative process aimed at blocking the mine.