VANCOUVER, July 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Northern
Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE American: NAK) ("Northern
Dynasty" or the "Company") reports the US Environmental Protection
Agency ("EPA") has taken action to withdraw a Proposed
Determination initiated by the Obama Administration in 2014 under
Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act ("CWA") in an
attempt to veto southwest Alaska's Pebble Project before it
received an objective, scientific regulatory review under the
National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA").
"Today's announcement means the Environmental Impact Statement
("EIS") and permitting process for the Pebble Project currently
being led by the US Army Corps of Engineers (the "Corps") may
advance to a final Record of Decision in 2020 without the cloud of
uncertainty created by EPA's unprecedented, pre-emptive regulatory
action," said Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ron Thiessen. "The Corps expects to finalize the
Pebble EIS in early 2020 and issue a final Record of Decision by
the middle of next year."
The following is excerpted from a statement released today by
the Pebble Limited Partnership ("Pebble Partnership" or "PLP"),
Northern Dynasty's 100%-owned US subsidiary:
"Finally, this Administration has reversed the outrageous
federal government overreach inflicted on the State of Alaska by the Obama Administration,"
said Pebble Partnership CEO Tom
Collier.
"This was an action and an Administration that sought to
vastly expand EPA's authority to regulate land use on state,
private and Native-owned lands throughout the United States, and in doing so kill one of
America's most important mineral projects before a development plan
was proposed or a comprehensive EIS permitting review was
undertaken. The Proposed Determination lifted today was a
preemptive veto that had never before been attempted in the 45-year
history of the Clean Water Act – a fact acknowledged by the former
Administrator's senior staff."
EPA's Proposed Determination was not based on a development
plan proposed by the Pebble Partnership, but on 'hypothetical
mining scenarios' prepared by EPA itself, and assessed in an
'alleged' scientific study known as the Bristol Bay Watershed
Assessment ("BBWA"). Following extensive hearings in the
House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, the BBWA was
determined to be both a result of an abuse of due process and an
unfortunate attempt on EPA's part to justify its pre-determined
intent to kill the Pebble Project before a development plan was
proposed or a fair, science-based regulatory review was
undertaken.
"Since its founding in 1970, the same year the National
Environmental Policy Act was signed into law, the Natural Resources
Defense Council ("NRDC") has championed NEPA and the EIS process as
'the Magna Carta of environmental protection," Collier said of the
national environmental activist organization that has spearheaded
the campaign against Pebble, including through secret collusion
with Obama's EPA.
"In the singular instance of Pebble, however, NRDC has
demanded that a project be killed before an EIS is completed. Could
it be the NRDC is scared that, if Pebble's development plan is
afforded the opportunity to be comprehensively reviewed by
independent experts, it will be found to be permittable under
federal and state law, and pose no risk to the salmon fisheries of
Bristol Bay?"
Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Partnership expressly thanked
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy for his leadership in encouraging
EPA to withdraw its Proposed Determination.
Collier stated: "As Governor Dunleavy clearly recognizes,
major companies will not invest in resource development in
Alaska if projects can be vetoed
before they receive a fair review. Alaska has needed this kind of leadership for
years. Governor Dunleavy appears to be fulfilling his pledge to
make sure the world knows Alaska
is open for business, and supports responsible resource
development."
The formal withdrawal of EPA's Proposed Determination is one
of a series of important milestones that Pebble believes
demonstrate it is progressing steadily toward a positive Record of
Decision. Others include:
- In December 2017, Pebble
submitted a permit application to the Corps for a project with a
substantially smaller development footprint and enhanced
environmental safeguards. This includes: elimination of cyanide
from mineral processing; removal of all mine facilities from the
Upper Talarik drainage; no permanent waste rock storage on surface;
enhanced tailings storage facility safety and stability measures;
and, more robust water management and treatment capabilities.
Pebble's application was accompanied by ~$150 million of environmental baseline data —one
of the most extensive such databases ever submitted for a mining
project in America.
- In February 2019, the Corps
issued the Draft EIS for the Pebble Project – the first time a
truly objective, expert analysis of Pebble's potential
environmental impacts has been published in the more than 10 years
that debate about the project has raged. We believe the Draft
EIS makes clear that the proposed mine will not harm Bristol Bay
fisheries.
- In November 2018 and
May 2019, PLP announced Right-of-Way
Agreements with two Alaska Native village corporations with
extensive landholdings near Pebble, securing access to a
transportation corridor to serve the proposed mine. The agreements
make Alaska Peninsula Corporation and Iliamna Natives Limited
partners in the Pebble enterprise, and demonstrate local Alaska
Native support for the project.
- In addition to overwhelmingly electing pro-development
Governor Mike Dunleavy in
November 2018, Alaska voters rejected an anti-development
ballot measure promoted by its proponents as a means to stop Pebble
by a margin of more than 2:1.
"The withdrawal of the Proposed Determination… the proposal
for a smaller, environmentally optimized mine… the Draft EIS
conclusions regarding the Bristol Bay salmon fishery… the published
schedule for the Final EIS and Record of Decision… and the
favorable political climate in Alaska – together, these factors give us a
high level of confidence that we will get a permit," Collier
said.
Collier predicted that opponents of the Pebble Project will
say withdrawal of the Proposed Determination means that Pebble will
likely get a permit, but "only because the political fix is
in."
"My view is that they are only half right," he said. "They
are right when they say Pebble believes it is likely to get a
permit, but not because the fix is in – rather, because our
smaller, environmentally enhanced mine plan meets the high
environmental standards and permitting requirement enforced in the
US and Alaska, and should receive
a permit."
Collier further predicted that opponents will say,
notwithstanding today's withdrawal of the Proposed Determination,
that EPA can always initiate a new veto process next year "Really?
Why in the world would EPA withdraw a proposed veto today, if it
intends to initiate a new one in less than a year?" he
asked.
As proposed, the Pebble Project is expected to generate tens
of millions of dollars in State government revenues each year at a
time when the State of Alaska is
facing a fiscal crisis. It is also expected to support some 2,000
Alaska jobs, with average
compensation for mine workers in excess of $100,000/year.
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
PLP, is a 100% interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral
claims in southwest Alaska,
including the Pebble deposit. PLP 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.northerndynastyminerals.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.
The National Environment Policy Act EIS process requires a
comprehensive "alternatives assessment" be undertaken to consider a
broad range of development alternatives, the final project design
and operating parameters for the Pebble Project and associated
infrastructure may vary significantly from that currently being
advanced. As a result, the Company will continue to consider
various development options and no final project design has been
selected at this time.
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
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SOURCE Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.