The Pebble Blog

The gigantic Pebble copper and gold prospect in Southwest Alaska is one of the touchiest topics in Alaska today.

In this blog, I'll track news that is significant or interesting about the Pebble project. I'll also try to generate discussion and information sharing about some of the claims and counterclaims about the project, and mining in general.

Please keep your comments courteous and on topic. If you violate the ADN comment policy, your posts will be deleted.

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About Elizabeth Bluemink ebluemink@adn.com

I've been writing about mining in Alaska since 2004 and without a doubt, it is one of the most interesting topics that I cover at the Daily News. I've been a newspaper reporter for the past 10 years. In the Deep South, I specialized in reporting about environmental conflicts and pollution cleanups. For two years, I covered commercial fishing, mining and logging in Southeast Alaska. In my current job as a Daily News business reporter, I write about mining, tourism, Native corporations and other businesses.


Archive

Pebble doles out grant money - 11/9/2009 4:41 pm

Hardrock mineral exploration, 07-09 statistics - 11/9/2009 2:12 pm

Diocese takes stance on water pollution - 10/23/2009 6:21 pm

Lots of Pebble-related news - 10/23/2009 5:02 pm

Pebble poll results - 9/22/2009 9:57 am

Pebble Update - 9/21/2009 1:06 pm

Supreme Court on Ballot Measure 4 - 9/18/2009 4:40 pm

Polling on Pebble - 9/18/2009 1:01 pm

Anglo exec moves up Forbes' most powerful women list - 8/19/2009 9:16 pm

Federal regulators give nod to Kensington - 8/14/2009 4:06 pm

Sockeye salmon meltdown - 8/13/2009 4:27 pm

Vacationing at old copper mines - 8/13/2009 2:19 pm

Maintaining water for fish - 8/10/2009 1:44 pm

Bicycling against Pebble - 8/7/2009 7:13 pm

Anglo profits slide - 8/1/2009 4:34 pm

Pebble says no dumping in Iliamna Lake - 7/30/2009 11:38 am

Pebble lawsuit: the cutting room floor - 7/30/2009 9:48 am

State rebuffs petition to dismiss charges against mine proponents - 7/28/2009 5:09 pm

Feds review new financial assurances for mines - 7/22/2009 6:27 pm

Anglo American has new chairman - 7/22/2009 3:40 pm

Pebble Blog lives again - 7/22/2009 3:20 pm

Pebble Blog on hiatus - 7/10/2009 11:09 am

full archive »

Pebble lawsuit: the cutting room floor

Posted by Elizabeth Bluemink

Posted: July 30, 2009 - 9:48 am

Comments (0) |

A coalition of Pebble opponents on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to block the project's exploration and water use permits. You can read the story I wrote about it here.

In the rush to meet deadline, a few random details didn't make it into the story.

For example:

* There isn't any drilling occurring at the Pebble deposit right now (about 9 to 11 new holes were drilled in the spring), but the mining companies have told state regulators they hope to drill up to 37 holes this fall. That's if they aren't blocked by the lawsuit.
* Though state regulators didn't hold a public comment period or perform a best interest analysis for the Pebble exploration permit, the exploration permit application did trigger a state-led coastal zone management consistency review that included a public comment period. Some people did submit comments.
* The application for a mineral exploration permit from DNR is the exact same piece of paper as the application for a placer mining permit.
* There are a lot more rules and public notice requirements for land-based oil and gas exploration than there are for land-based hardrock mineral exploration. The best-interest analysis for oil/gas leases isn't for a specific project, however - it's for an entire area of the state. In any case, there's public comment periods for pending oil/gas lease sales, drill permits and seismic work. That's not the case for hard-rock exploration.


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