Cutting Off an Industrial Mine’s Financing
Pebble Mine is a proposed industrial mine that, if built, would devastate Alaskan wildlife and local communities.
This project would exploit Alaska’s Bristol Bay, generate 10 billions tons of dangerous waste, wipe out 90 miles of salmon streams, and pollute more than 5,000 acres of waterways. Pebble Mine would additionally threaten the local economy as Bristol Bay is home to one of the largest and last remaining wild salmon populations in the world, providing jobs and serving as a foundation for Indigenous communities.
The plan has near unanimous opposition from Indigenous tribes, environmental activists, and commercial and sport fishermen. Even the Environmental Protection Agency has questioned the safety of Pebble Mine, noting the “irreversible” damage it would cause to Bristol Bay.
Pebble Mine is a clear environmental disaster—yet its parent company found a financier for the project in First Quantum Minerals. To stop this project, Friends of the Earth has worked to hit them where it hurts: their financial backing.
Friends of the Earth worked with like-minded environmental groups and local communities to make it clear that Pebble Mine poses a tremendous threat to lands, waters, wildlife, livelihoods, public health, and local economies. We also send First Quantum Minerals over 40,000 petition signatures from our members telling them to back out.
And they did.
In May 2018, Northern Dynasty announced that First Quantum pulled out of the Pebble Mine project, becoming the fourth major mining corporation refusing to participate in their financial blackhole.
Despite this victory, we will continue to fight Pebble Mine until the project is completely scrapped. The Army Corps of Engineers and EPA must recognize the inherent dangers this project poses and reject it outright.