Appeals court tosses Pebble Mine suit against EPA; arguments begin in another

A federal appeals court dismissed one of several ongoing court cases over the fate of Pebble Mine, handing a win to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

LINK (via:Alaska Dispatch News)

Meanwhile, a federal judge heard arguments in a case alleging that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency worked with critics of the proposed Pebble mine with a predetermined goal to block the project.

Leading voice in anti-Pebble fight, dies at 73

Bristol Bay elder Bobby Andrew, who has been a leading voice in the fight against Pebble Mine, passed away at the age of 73.

LINK (via: KDLG)

Off the Map, Off the Grid to Explore B.C.’s Threatened Unuk River

Travis Rummel chronicles a first descent of the threatened Unuk River in BC.

Last summer, Ryan Peterson talked me and Gordon Klco into a first descent of the Unuk River from its source to sea. He made it sound like no big deal: Just hop in our Alpacka packrafts and casually float 100 miles downstream from the mountainous B.C. headwaters to the river mouth in Misty Fjords National Monument in southeast Alaska. We would shoot film along the way to help bring awareness to B.C.’s rampant development of large-scale mines on Transboundary Rivers in the region, in particular a proposed $5.3-billion mine on one of the Unuk’s tributaries, the Kerr-Suplhurets-Mitchell mine (KSM).

The expedition ended up being one of the hardest of my life.

LINK (via: Adventure Journal)

Pollutants from Mount Polley breach may have long-term effects

Go figure.....

Months after a dam at Mount Polley mine collapsed, releasing more than 25 million cubic metres of tailings and water, a polluted plume of sediments continued to circulate through Quesnel Lake.

Now a study by researchers from two universities and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans is raising concerns about the long-term impact of that plume, which is still exposing fish, plants and insects to copper, selenium and other metals.

LINK (via: The Globe and Mail)

Tribes, fishermen warn about Canadian mines

LINK (via: King 5)

Down to Lawyers, Lobbyists and Legislators

Like a terminal patient on life support, Pebble Mine is all about "staying alive" -- which translates into the nicely alliterative trio of lawyers, lobbyists and legislators.

LINK (via: The Huffington Post)