The Pebble Blog : Pebble water-use violations

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.

Pebble water-use violations

Posted by Elizabeth Bluemink

Posted: February 15, 2010 - 5:26 pm

On Friday, I filed this story about unauthorized water usage by Pebble drilling crews over the previous three years.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, which is fining the Pebble Partnership for violating state rules, recently told company officials they probably would have permitted the water usage if applications had been made properly. Pebble officials say it was all a big misunderstanding about overlapping permits. It's worth noting that last year, the actual water use by Pebble turned out to be quite a bit less than the amount it had permission to use. I'm asking for information about the prior years, too.

The mine's critics are using this case as additional fodder for their complaints that the state's mine permitting process is too lax. Some of them have been arguing in state court that the state needs to do much more environmental analysis before granting temporary water-use permits. A trial in that case, pitting Pebble opponents against DNR, has been scheduled for Sept. 1.