Iceland volcano hampers anti-Pebble activists

UPDATE: John Shively, chief executive of the Pebble Partnership, also planned to attend the Anglo shareholder meeting but has not been able to fly to London due to the volcanic eruptions. He attended the previous two Anglo annual meetings, according to a Pebble spokesman.

Anglo American, the London-based mining company backing Pebble, is hosting its annual shareholder meeting this week in London, and for the second year in a row, opponents of Pebble are trying to grab the attention of Anglo leaders and shareholders by going to the meeting and making a PR push in the British media.

Thanks to the flight-disrupting ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruptions, however, it appears that only one anti-Pebble activist, Verner Wilson of Nunamta Aulukestai, is in London. (He flew to France before the eruption.) A spokeswoman for the anti-Pebble London trip said Monday morning that the ash cloud has grounded the London flights of four others, including former Alaska Senate president Rick Halford and Nunamta spokesman Bobby Andrew.

The general meeting for Anglo shareholders is on Thursday.