Weekly Post, NO PEBBLE MINE Pictures From Ground Zero by Robert Glenn Ketchum (Posts #426+)

 NO PEBBLE MINE Pictures From Ground Zero by Robert Glenn Ketchum

Since 1998, I have been working to protect southeast Alaska, and the fishery of Bristol Bay. The fishery is an annually renewable, BILLION-dollar-a-year industry that employs thousands and thousands of workers in multiple states. 2021 provided the largest commercial salmon catch in history (64-million+). There is no intelligent reason to allow the proposed development of the Pebble mine to go forward and imperil these resources. The United Tribes of Bristol Bay, the United Fishermen of Alaska, Trout Unlimited, Trustees For Alaska, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, all oppose the development. Even Alaskan Senator, Lisa Murkowski, has stated her opposition. The momentum is building. Now is the time to SAY NO TO THE PEBBLE MINE permanently! 

~Robert Glenn Ketchum

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

NO PEBBLE MINE, Pictures from Ground Zero #574

NO PEBBLE MINE #574: 

Here is another big valley with a lot of colors and textures. This could easily be a tapestry.

photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023, 

@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd 

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NRDC, Pebble Mine: Open Letter to Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman

EXPERT BLOG › JOEL REYNOLDS

Pebble Mine: Open Letter to Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman

May 18, 2020
Joel Reynolds

Bristol Bay coalition urges Morgan Stanley to cut ties with widely-condemned Pebble Mine, citing unavoidable risks to the region, inconsistency with Morgan Stanley’s commitment to corporate environmental and social responsibility.

"Nushagak River, Bristol Bay Watershed"

photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2020 

James Gorman
Chairman and CEO
Morgan Stanley
1585 Broadway Avenue
New York, NY
USA 10036


Re: Northern Dynasty Minerals and the Pebble Mine
Dear Mr. Gorman:

Over the past two months, on behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council and leaders from the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, we have reached out to you here and here for essentially two reasons:

First, we are concerned that Morgan Stanley continues to be associated publicly as a major shareholder in Northern Dynasty Minerals, the sole owner of one of the most widely condemned projects anywhere today.  The Pebble Mine is a project (1) that threatens the greatest wild sockeye salmon fishery on Earth, (2) that the people of Bristol Bay, by overwhelming numbers for over a decade, have opposed, (3) that four major global mining companies have abandoned, (4) that the World Conservation Congress has condemned by virtually unanimous vote, (5) that Tiffany’s and scores of other jewelry companies have blacklisted, (6) that EPA Administrators from the Presidencies of Nixon, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush have called “the wrong mine in absolutely the wrong place” – and more. While your colleagues have emphasized in reply that Morgan Stanley “does not have a strategic or proprietary investment in the company,” your public profile as a major institutional investor in the company continues to convey a different, however unintended, impression – one of participation in a project that is environmentally destructive, socially irresponsible, and relentlessly opposed by the people of the region. Under the Trump Administration, in disregard of all of this, the project is nearing a permit decision, with Morgan Stanley high on its list of investors.

Second, as is evident on your website, there is no doubt that Morgan Stanley has a commitment to sustainability and sensitivity to the environmental and social concerns that have motivated the diverse, sustained opposition to the Pebble Mine. Indeed, your unambiguous rejection of the kinds of risks that Northern Dynasty and its pursuit of its reckless project pose in a very direct and immediate way to the communities of Bristol Bay is an important consideration in reaching out to you. Pebble’s risks are not an abstract concept nor are they going to go away in the absence of specific, concrete, and public action by leaders like Morgan Stanley – to whom investors look for investment guidance. As you have recognized, this is a matter of sustainable long-term investment, not just fundamental values.

Objectively, the Pebble Mine is a bad social, environmental, and financial investment. Given this, we ask what it is that you and your colleagues at Morgan Stanley hope to hear from Northern Dynasty Minerals, the Army Corps of Engineers, or anyone else that, in the face of this unreasonable risk and broad-based condemnation, could justify proceeding with such a project in such a place? While we have no reason to doubt the assurances of your colleagues that you are “mindful of the impacts,” you will “continue to monitor the project and company,” or that you “remain sensitive to the environmental and social issues” that we’ve raised, we believe that the circumstances demand more than words.

To that end, as Northern Dynasty continues its single-minded pursuit of permits and investors for this uniquely destructive project, we urge you to consider what specific actions Morgan Stanley can take to publicly dissociate itself, its resources, and its services from the Pebble Mine and from the company that owns it.

Very truly yours,

Joel Reynolds

Western Director
Senior Attorney
Natural Resources Defense Council
Take action now to stop the Pebble Mine.

NRDC: Pebble Mine Environmental Review Falls Flat by Joel Reynolds

Pebble Mine Environmental Review Falls Flat

August 21, 2019
by Joel Reynolds, Western Director, Senior Attorney, Marine Mammals, Oceans Division, Nature Program
NRDC, Natural Resources Defense Council

Pebble CEO’s enthusiastic spin fails to mask widespread criticism of data gaps, unsupported conclusions, and failure to meet industry standard practice.

When Tom Collier talks, it’s sensible to be skeptical.

HELP WANTED: Hypothetical Partner for the Pebble Mine by Joel Reynolds, NRDC

HELP WANTED: Hypothetical Partner for the Pebble Mine

April 22, 2019

Joel Reynolds, Natural Resources Defense Council

Canadian owner of widely condemned Bristol Bay mine desperately seeks new partner with a few billion to spare. Financial, social, and environmental indifference required. No need to apply if you’re fazed by economic infeasibility, relentless local opposition, pervasive risk, and potentially catastrophic social and environmental impacts.

It’s no secret that Northern Dynasty Minerals (aka the Pebble Partnership)—the sole remaining partner in the embattled Pebble Mine proposed for the headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay—is in urgent need of a new financial partner. To be sure, after four of the world’s major mining companies (Mitsubishi Corporation, Anglo American, Rio Tinto, and First Quantum Minerals) have walked away from the project since 2011, it’s a tough sell.

At last year’s general meeting of shareholders, Northern Dynasty CEO Ron Thiessen expressed confidence they can make a deal. The only question, he told me, is “what deal”—that is, what terms will be required to entice a buy-out or at least a new major partner. With the company’s history of failed partnerships in mind, I began to speculate about what the profile of such a partner, if indeed there is one to be found, might look like.

Here, in no particular order, are some essential characteristics:

(1) Unconcerned by financial risk
Contrary to industry practice—and despite repeated requests—Pebble has refused to release an economic feasibility analysis for its latest mine plan, now under permit review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. When asked by the Army Corps’ consultant AECOM to produce information on Pebble’s “cost/feasibility,” the company refused, citing a Canadian securities regulation whose purpose is to prevent securities fraud relating to mining properties. When pressed by the Bristol Bay Native Corporation (“BBNC”) last December, Pebble’s CEO Tom Collier, too, declined, explaining that such an analysis “remains on our to-do list.” Just this month, pressed by E&E News, he demurred once again because “an economic analysis is not a required piece of the permitting puzzle.”

A Tale of Two Futures: Alaskan Wild Salmon vs. the Pebble Mine by Joel Reynolds, NRDC

A Tale of Two Futures: Alaskan Wild Salmon vs. the Pebble Mine

by Joel Reynolds, Western Director, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Reprinted with permission by the Author.
Originally published on Huffington Post.

For anyone still unclear about the irreconcilable disconnect between the rich heritage of Alaskans and the overriding financial self-interest of The Pebble Partnership, it was on stunning display in Bristol Bay’s wild salmon fishery this summer.

"Trump’s Illegal Immigration Ban Threatens All of Us" by Joel Reynolds, NRDC

"Trump’s Illegal Immigration Ban Threatens All of Us"
 by Joel Reynolds, NRDC

The focus of my work and writing is the environment. But I write today to express my personal outrage, sorrow, and embarrassment at the ban imposed by Donald Trump on entrance to the United States by people from seven countries in the Middle East - based solely on their country of origin. 

This action is inhumane, immoral, and indefensible. Not only is the ban based on the unsupportable factual premise that it will prevent acts of terrorism in the United States, but it violates constitutional protections and the explicit statutory prohibition against exclusion based on national origin enacted by Congress in 1965. Contrary to its asserted purpose, Trump’s action is more likely to fan the flames that feed terrorism in this country and around the civilized world.

The ban is blatantly un-American - inimical to our long-held values of equality and inclusion embodied in the Declaration of Independence and symbolized by the Statue of Liberty. All Americans should be outraged, and all of us need to oppose it.

I join in condemning this divisive, destructive, and despicable action taken in the name of our country by a dangerous President who has already demonstrated - and by this latest action once again confirmed - that he has little regard for facts, no apparent interest in the complexities of addressing the real needs of the people his office exists to serve, and a distorted understanding of the constitutional principles on which this country has been built - a foundation that for centuries has made this country unique in the world.

Each of us has a stake in collective action against the immigration ban, because the danger posed by Trump isn’t limited to one religion, region, gender, or ethnic classification, one social, cultural or economic group, or one special interest or issue. The attack launched this week against immigrants from the seven banned countries betrays a sickening lack of judgment that threatens all of us whatever our demographic or concern — from national security to environmental protection to civil rights to our constitutional system of laws. Complacency in the hope that, if given a chance, Donald Trump intends or will inevitably be compelled to moderate his behavior is a prescription for escalating, irreparable, and widespread harm — to our families, our communities, and our future.

The responsibility to oppose the dangerous demagoguery of this President isn’t dictated by political party or ideology. His reckless policies and blatant disregard for fact aren’t a matter of right or left but of right or wrong - and of our personal and national interest. His illegal ban on access to this country is antithetical to basic standards of human decency that Americans fought and died to defend in opposing dictatorship and genocide in World War II.

The good news is that Trump’s action is already being challenged in the streets and in court, and a stay of the ban was issued on Saturday by the federal court in Brooklyn. Other such actions - whether their focus is civil rights, environmental progress, our social fabric, or our humanity — must be challenged as well. No matter the issue - this one or the next — we will succeed only if each of us, together, does whatever we can.

Stand up, speak out, and be heard. Get involved. Oppose Trump’s immigration ban.

Take action. Today.

Printed by permission by Joel Reynolds, NRDC

NRDC at the IUCN World Conservation Congress - #NoPebbleMine

Working with my good friend, Joel Reynolds and his amazing staff at @NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), who hosted a reception for the International Union for Conservation of Nature @IUCN World Conservation Congress attendees in Hawaii...

Earth To Pebble Mine: Stay Away From Bristol Bay. World Conservation Congress Registers Overwhelming International Opposition to Mega-Mine That Threatens Bristol Bay’s Wild Salmon Fishery by Joel Reynolds

Earth To Pebble Mine: Stay Away From Bristol Bay. World Conservation Congress Registers Overwhelming International Opposition to Mega-Mine That Threatens Bristol Bay’s Wild Salmon Fishery

by Joel Reynolds,
Western Director and Senior Attorney, NRDC, Los Angeles

A new chapter opened today in the battle against the proposed Pebble Mine, as the World Conservation Congress overwhelmingly adopted a motion opposing the embattled mega-mine and other large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska and urging the U.S. government to prevent the issuance of permits. With this action, an international body has for the first time formally joined longstanding opposition to the massive copper and gold project — a project that, for years, has been the focus of a relentless, broad-based campaign in Alaska and the lower 48 states to stop it.

Pebble Mine 2015 in Review: 'The Year of Failing Expensively' by Joel Reynolds

Pebble Mine 2015 in Review:  'The Year of Failing Expensively' by Joel Reynolds

The battle to stop the infamous Pebble Mine isn't over, but if you're a shareholder in the embattled project, 2015 was another disappointing year.

photograph © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2016

In court and in Congress, trying desperately to recharge its reckless scheme for a massive open pit mine in the headwaters of the Bristol Bay wild salmon fishery, The Pebble Partnership ("Pebble") continued throwing good money after bad. In fact, at Pebble headquarters these days, probably the only happy faces belong to the army of Washington, DC lobbyists and lawyers -- including Pebble's DC-based CEO Tom Collier -- who, in 2015, were the most obvious beneficiaries of what little remains of Pebble's cash on hand.

What Would Defense Secretary Cohen Have Done With His "Independent" Pebble Mine Report? by Joel Reynolds

What Would Defense Secretary Cohen Have Done With His "Independent" Pebble Mine Report?

In the latest installment in the saga of the embattled Pebble Mine, there is inescapable irony in last week's release of The Pebble Partnership-funded "independent" report by former Defense Secretary William Cohen and his firm The Cohen Group. Based on a brief, undefined investigation, Secretary Cohen concluded to no one's surprise that his client has been unfairly treated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its federal Clean Water Act review of the mining project - just as his client has argued for years.

Pebble Mine's William Cohen PR Stunt: Follow the Money

Pebble Mine's William Cohen PR Stunt: Follow the Money
by Joel Reynolds
Western Director and Senior attorney, NRDC, Los Angeles
Posted: 10/07/2015 5:55 pm EDT Updated: 10/07/2015 7:59 pm EDT

It's easy to understand why the cash-starved Pebble Partnership, now just a single small Canadian exploration company called Northern Dynasty Minerals, would hire former Defense Secretary William Cohen to review EPA's proposed restriction of Pebble's planned massive copper and gold mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay region -- and then try to pass that review off as "independent." Pebble wants to prolong the life of its all but dead mining scheme in the hope that it can turn its shareholders' virtually worthless shares into something valuable enough to sell -- and salvage some kind of return on their investment.

TELL THE PEBBLE PARTNERSHIP TO CALL IT QUITS

The fight to stop the Pebble Mine goes on -- but the battlefront has moved from the U.S. EPA to the courtroom and beyond as we escalate massive nationwide pressure on Northern Dynasty Minerals, the last company standing behind the disastrous venture, to call it quits.

Over the last two weeks, NRDC ran a series of hard-hitting, full-page print ads in Washington urging the Pebble Partnership -- Northern Dynasty's legal entity -- to walk away from Pebble Mine. The EPA has confirmed that this gargantuan open-pit, gold and copper operation -- along with its estimated 10 billion tons of toxic mining waste -- carries catastrophic risk for Bristol Bay, its world-class salmon fishery, its pristine environment and its people.

Saying Goodbye to Bobby Andrew, Defender of Bristol Bay by Joel Reynolds

Saying Goodbye to Bobby Andrew, Defender of Bristol

Bay
by Joel Reynolds, Western Director and Senior attorney, NRDC, Los Angeles

I didn't expect the Pebble Mine would outlast Bobby Andrew. He was a fighter who never seemed to get tired. Over 70 years old, and he was always willing to make the trip - whatever the trip, wherever it took him -- to talk, to testify, to tell the terrible story of the uniquely reckless scheme by international mining giants to poison the communities and wild salmon fisheries of Alaska's Bristol Bay with a gigantic copper and gold mine.

photograph © copyright, Natural Resources Defense Council 2015 @NRDC @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd 

At the age of 72, Bobby died last month, and the traditional Russian Orthodox 40th Day service occurs this week, when his soul is released from the Earth. When he talked, people listened, because there was no denying his personal stake, his authenticity, his legitimacy in representing the people of Bristol Bay. He was a Yupik elder and a member of the Ekwok Tribe, longtime spokesperson for Nunamta Aulukestai, a life-time subsistence and commercial fisherman, born in Alegnagik, near Dillingham -- and he looked the part. The determined and immovable opposition of Alaska Natives to the Pebble Mine was reflected in his face -- serious, resolute, even angry - and he was repeatedly featured in full page ads around the world as the face of the regional coalition against the Pebble Mine.