Washington, D.C. —Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) sent a letter to Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), expressing his concerns with the Corps’ review of the Clean Water Act Permit for the development of an open pit mine to be constructed in the Bristol Bay watershed, Alaska.
“Based on my review of the process undertaken by the Corps, thus far, as well as the testimony received before a hearing of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment on the Pebble Mine project, I am deeply concerned that your agency’s review of this permit application and the associated review of the project under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are so fundamentally flawed and inadequate as to preclude any meaningful review on the likely impacts of this project – in violation of your responsibilities under both the Clean Water Act and NEPA,” DeFazio wrote.
Chair DeFazio urged the Corps to immediately prepare a revised Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that addresses shortfalls contained in the earlier EIS.
On October 23, 2019 the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing to review the Pebble Mine Project. To hear from those directly affected by this proposed plan, click here. Chair DeFazio also shared his views on the project ahead of the hearing, which can be found here.
To read the full letter, click here.
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