{"id":10327,"date":"2019-10-23T20:13:05","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T20:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first-pepperoni.flywheelsites.com\/?p=10327"},"modified":"2025-10-27T16:45:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T16:45:02","slug":"alaskans-to-congress-stop-pebble-permit-mockery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/2019\/10\/23\/alaskans-to-congress-stop-pebble-permit-mockery\/","title":{"rendered":"Alaskans to Congress: Stop Pebble Permit \u201cMockery\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bristol Bay residents and fishermen call out shoddy mine review process during Capitol Hill hearing.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Congress heard directly from Alaskans about a Pebble Mine permitting process gone awry, during a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment today.  The mine\u2019s Clean Water Act permits are being fast-tracked at unprecedented speed, at the direction of political appointees at Army Corps and the EPA.<\/a>  Alaskans on Capitol Hill Wednesday were deeply distressed about the politicized process. This came just days after news reports of insider trading<\/a> by stock holders of Pebble\u2019s holding company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, reminded lawmakers that the Yup\u2019ik, Dena\u2019ina, and Alutiiq peoples of Bristol Bay represent some of the last remaining salmon cultures in the world \u2013 according the federal government\u2019s own Bristol Bay analysis published in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the limited tribal engagement from the Army Corps of Engineers, including its failure to visit the potentially impacted villages around Bristol Bay during the mine’s review, was \u201cinsulting,\u201d Hurley said in written testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alannah Hurley<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith so much at stake, the people of Bristol Bay, and all Alaskans, deserve a fair, thorough, and transparent review of the proposed Pebble mine. In contrast, the Corps\u2019 opaque process is moving toward a permit decision at an unprecedented pace, ignoring substantial criticism and concern from Bristol Bay Tribes, other federal agencies, and the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Corps has made clear that it will not listen to our voices, so we ask this Committee to act now and help us protect Bristol Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added, before the committee: “And why is it that Bristol Bay\u2019s first people, to whom this federal government owes a sacred trust responsibility, are continually treated as second class citizens by agencies of the United States?  We are not a box to be checked.  We are not an obstacle to be overcome.  And we are not enemies to be defeated.  We are the indigenous people of Bristol Bay & we deserve to be heard, we deserve to be respected, and we will not be brushed aside. We have inherited the responsibility to be strong stewards of Bristol Bay and we will not stop fighting until our homeland is protected from Pebble Mine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio leveled his own critiques of the Army Corps and Pebble, which he called a “shell company.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Let me state, right from the start, that the Pebble Mine proposal is a bad idea made even worse by the sham review process currently underway,” DeFazio said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I also want to express my deep disappointment with the Corps of Engineers on their track record of review for this project to date,” DeFazio continued. “If the Corps continues its current path to rush approval of this project, I believe this will be a stain on the reputation of this proud institution, which continues to serve as our nation\u2019s premier water resources agency.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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