By Becky Bohrer
The Associated Press / Seattle Times
JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it is taking the first steps toward restricting or even prohibiting development of a massive gold-and-copper prospect near the headwaters of a premier sockeye-salmon fishery in southwest Alaska — though no final decision has been made.
While the rarely used EPA process is under way, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cannot approve a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine project.
The announcement Friday follows release of an EPA report in January that found large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed posed significant risk to salmon and could adversely affect Alaska Natives in the region, whose culture is built around salmon.
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