The Pebble Blog : Federal regulators give nod to Kensington

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.

------------------------------------------------

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.

Federal regulators give nod to Kensington

Posted by Elizabeth Bluemink

Posted: August 14, 2009 - 4:06 pm

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today reapproved the permit allowing the Kensington gold mine near Juneau to put its rock waste into a natural lake.

Another federal agency, the Environmental Protection Agency had weighed in recently, asking the Corps to consider big changes to the permit, which was recently deemed legal by the U.S. Supreme Court after a lengthy court battle between the mine, the state, federal agencies, and several Southeast Alaska conservation groups opposed to the permit.

The Corps said it received more than 8,000 comments before it reissued the permit with some minor modifications. Alaska's Congressional delegation recently weighed in strongly in favor of the lake disposal plan.

To read the actual permit documents, click on the attachment below.