More than two years of emails from an Environmental Protection Agency worker accused of working illegally to block a mine in Alaska are mysteriously missing.
The EPA’s inspector general released Wednesday its report on the agency’s Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, which has caused construction on a potentially lucrative mine in the area to be delayed for years, if not killed.
The report showed no evidence of bias in how the watershed assessment was conducted, no evidence the EPA predetermined the outcome of a challenge to the site under the Clean Water Act and that policies and procedures for ecological risk assessment, peer review and information quality were all followed.
However, the report also states investigators couldn’t fully investigate the assessment because years of emails from a key employee are missing.
Phil North, an ecologist with the EPA based in Alaska, is accused by House Republicans of illegally colluding with local tribes to block the mine. North was proven to have used his personal email to consult the tribes on how to petition the EPA for a rare preemptive veto of the Pebble Mine.
But the inspector general reported that 25 months of North’s emails from his government account are missing in what they’re saying was an “unauthorized and accidental loss of federal records.”
“We could not review all emails from the retired Region 10 employee’s EPA email address,” the report stated. “Region 10 identified 25 months of missing emails for the retired employee that overlapped with the 52-month time period of our review … As a result, we are unable to draw any specific conclusions related to that employee’s emails during that period.”
Given the available information, the independent watchdog found no inappropriate actions in the EPA’s assessment of the Bristol Bay watershed. The report showed the impact of mining on the animal life and natural resources in the area.
North was accused by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee of illegally working with local tribes on how to ask the EPA to block the project.
According to the report, North was guilty of a possible misuse of his position. He helped edit a tribal petition to block the Pebble Mine under a provision of the Clean Water Act using his personal email in April 2010, a month before the petition was sent to the EPA.
“When reviewing the draft petition, it was not clear whether [North] participated in a personal or official capacity,” the report stated. “It was also not clear whether commenting on the draft petition using personal email was allowable under the job duties of [North].”
North’s supervisor told investigators that he would not have allowed North to participate in the crafting of the petition if he was aware of his actions. North worked by himself in a remote Alaskan location.
The EPA has not issued the preemptive veto under the Clean Water Act that would have blocked the project.
The report stated North’s actions made him lose any resebemblance of impartiality.
“This action was a possible misuse of position,” the report stated. “Agency employees must remain impartial in dealings with outside parties, particularly those that are considering petitioning or have petitioned the agency to take action on a matter.”
A subpoena for North’s personal emails was refused because North’s lawyer was not authorized to release them. North has since retired from the EPA and fled to Australia to avoid a congressional investigation
The mine is a potentially lucrative site. The value of the copper, molybdenum and gold at the site could be worth $300 billion. In addition, the report estimates the mine would create thousands of jobs in Alaska and more than 10,000 in the rest of the country.
However, it could also cause damage to the waters near the mine.
According to the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, disposal of material from the mine in the Bristol Bay watershed would result in “unacceptable adverse effects on ecologically important streams, wetlands, lakes and ponds and the fishery areas they support,” the report stated.
Bristol Bay is home to one of the largest wild salmon populations in the world. That salmon population supports a $500 million commercial and sport fishing industry in the area, according to Trout Unlimited.
Proposed designs of the Pebble Mine would include one of the world’s largest earthen dams and a 10-square mile containment pond to hold the wastewater from the mine. Trout Unlimited says any breach of that dam or that containment pond could severely damage the wild salmon population.
In a statement released Wednesday, EPA Regional Administrator Dennis McLerran said he was pleased with the review exonerating the EPA from wrongdoing in the delay of the Pebble Mine.
“EPA is pleased that the inspector general’s independent, in-depth review confirms that our rigorous scientific study of the Bristol Bay watershed and our robust public process were entirely consistent with our regulations, policies and established procedures and were based on sound scientific analysis,” McLerran said. “We stand behind our study and our public process, and we are confident in our work to protect Bristol Bay.”
