Corps says Pebble EIS is on track
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials are in the midst of meeting with federal agencies and tribal organizations on comments for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement document on Pebble, they said in a briefing last week. It may take a month or two longer to conclude those – hopes were for late October but it may now be December – but the process appears to be on its officials published schedule for a Final EIS in early 2020 and a Record of Decision published 60 day later. There will, of course, be lawsuits over the adequacy of the EIS, which is required under the National Environmental Policy Act. Corps officials were asked in the briefing about a Department of the Interior comment that the EIS seemed poorly prepared. The corps responded that it is working with DOI on specific issues raised but would not respond to generalized statements by a sister federal agency.

Corps official said in the briefing that they believe it would take about five years after federal permits are issued for Pebble to begin construction of a mine, but that’s under the most favorable circumstances. The most important part of the regulatory process facing Pebble is actually the state’s large-dam safety permit, the corps officials said. Pebble has not yet applied for that.

Northern Dynasty shares jump
Northern Dynasty Minerals, Pebble’s owner, saw a 60 percent jump in its stock price after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it will terminate a procedure to exercise a preemptive veto on the project. Norm van Vactor, president of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp., said the share price change was just a short-term market reaction for a stock that has been dormant for some time.