Gov. Dunleavy Sends Letter Requesting EPA To Stop Veto Of Pebble Mine

Facing a re-election bid next week, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is sure to rankle anti-Pebble Mine voters with his letter to the Environmental Protection Agency to reverse its decision earlier this year to recommend further protection for Bristol Bay from the Pebble Mine project. Here’s the Anchorage Daily News:

In his Sept. 6, three-page letter to Casey Sixkiller, administrator of the EPA region that includes Alaska, Dunleavy said the proposed veto of the project is “deeply concerning” and would undermine Alaska’s legal decision-making authority in resource development.

The letter, accompanied by the state’s 53-page comment to the agency, was obtained through a routine records request by the Daily News for the governor’s monthly correspondence.

Dunleavy said the EPA proposal, if finalized, would make preemptive decisions about which resources Alaska can develop and how it can develop them. It chooses fisheries over mining, while disregarding Alaska’s ability to protect its fishery resources, the governor said in the letter.