A federal judge ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to re-review and hand over to him more than 100 documents related to the agency’s deliberations over an Alaskan mine, saying he had “no confidence” the agency followed proper Freedom of Information Act protocols in withholding the documents.
Pebble LP sued the EPA regarding a document request related to the Pebble Mine in Alaska, a potentially lucrative project that has been delayed, if not killed, by an EPA report that showed it could harm water and salmon near the mine. The partnership is the company trying to build the mine.
According to court documents, the EPA withheld 130 documents from Pebble LP’s request, sparking a judicial review. District Court Judge Russel Holland initially found the agency improperly withheld seven documents and ordered the EPA to review the withheld documents again.
After that second review of 65 documents, the EPA decided 10 documents out of the 130 withheld should not be released while the other 120 were able to be released in whole or in part. Holland said that did not inspire confidence, and he wants to review all of them.
“It has done nothing to change the court’s conclusion that defendant has improperly withheld documents in response to plaintiff’s January 2014 FOIA request,” Holland wrote.
“At this point, the court has no confidence that defendant has properly withheld documents, either in full or in part.”
Holland ordered the EPA to review all the documents that were withheld and decide once again if they should be released. Holland ordered the EPA to submit all the documents it doesn’t want released to him to review. He also wants unredacted copies of all the documents released since the court case began.
The EPA has been criticized for its transparency over the Pebble Mine affair.
The Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment showed the Pebble Mine project could hurt the water quality near the mine, which has delayed the project by years. However, an EPA ecologist is accused of illegally working with tribes in the area to block the project, having used his personal email to consult the tribes on how to petition for a pre-emptive veto.
An inspector general report found 25 months of the ecologist’s emails have been “lost” and he has fled to Australia to avoid being interviewed by investigators.
According to the report, Phil 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 watchdog said. “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 had been aware of his actions. North worked by himself in a remote Alaskan location.
The EPA has not issued the pre-emptive veto under the Clean Water Act that would block the project.
The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Holland’s order.
