Part II: BC Mine Disaster Proves Need for More Review of New Mines

Written by: Mark Kaelke


The Taku River, southeast Alaska’s greatest sockeye salmon stream, runs at the base of Taku Glacier southeast of Juneau.
Photo courtesy TU

Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series running on the Trout Unlimited blog about how the Mount Polley Mine dam disaster could have devastating impacts on salmon in Alaska if proposed mines are allowed to be constructed in important salmon watersheds. You can read the. . .

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Part One: BC Mine Dam Failure Shows Why Pebble is a Disaster in Waiting

Written by: Zach Cockrum


The level of devastation from breach of the Mount Polley gold and copper mine tailings pond is staggering.
Photo courtesy of Cariboo Regional District Emergency Operations Centre

One of the most frequent claims of promoters of the proposed Pebble Mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska, is that modern technology means the failures of “tailings ponds” is highly unlikely.  However, just this week, an earthen dam at the. . .

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Photo Essay: An Argument Against Pebble Mine from the Ground and the Air


The proposed site for Pebble Mine is a near the headwaters of important salmon habitat.
All photos by Pat Clayton

[Editor’s note: Last April, we posted about photographer Pat Clayton‘s goal to spend the summer in Alaska to photograph the region threatened by the proposed Pebble Mine. Here is his second set of images and thoughts on the experience.]

Featuring waterways that stretch as far as the eye can see in all directions, Bristol Bay is a living organism where fresh, clean water is the blood that pumps life into. . .

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Video: The Alaska Nutrient Cycle

When we talk of stopping projects such as Pebble Mine, we often focus on the human-centric effects—such as lost sport-fishing opportunities, the collapse of a centuries-old way of life, etc.—but here’s a beautiful video that looks at the salmon’s place in the nutrient cycle of the. . .

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Pebble Mine Update: Thank You Anglo American

As many of you know, opponents of the Pebble Mine project—which proposes to build a monstrous gold, copper, and molybdenum mine located in a seismically unstable area at the headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay, the largest sockeye salmon spawning area in the world—received some welcome news recently when mining giant Anglo American, 50/50 partner with Northern Dynasty in the Pebble Partnership, announced that it was pulling out of the project.

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Take Action to Protect Bristol Bay, and Register to Win a Trip to Alaska!

What better way to appreciate the wonder of Alaska than with a trip for two to Crystal Creek Lodge—2011 Orvis Fly-Fishing Lodge of the Year—in the heart of Bristol Bay? All you have to do to enter the contest is take action to let the EPA know that you stand with millions of others against the proposed Pebble Mine. The video above explains why stopping this. . .

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Essay: What We’re Fighting to Save in Bristol Bay

Paul Fersen offers a vision of the pristine landscape threatened by Pebble Mine
Photo by Jim Klug

I sat on the edge of the raft, watching the snags slip beneath us. There were thousands in the sixty miles of river, each of them clinging to twisted white bodies like the barbed wire of Verdun. Carcasses lined the shorelines like the aftermath of some apocalyptic battle.

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