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ALASKA WATER WARS

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  • Proposed Pebble Mine site<br />
Aug. 9, 2017<br />
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As the Trump administration considers reversing an EPA decision that a proposed copper, gold and molybdenum mine in Southwest Alaska is too risky to go forward, the company behind the project has renewed efforts to build the mine. Pebble Partnership officials say they have a new plan for a mine with a smaller footprint.
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  • Anchorage, Alaska<br />
Nov. 1, 2017<br />
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“The community was adamant that they didn’t want the risk of cyanide in Bristol Bay, so we’re not going to do it.”<br />
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“This issue of process of whether or not you get to file an application before EPA kills you is not an issue of science, it’s an issue of process.”<br />
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“I think people need to listen to where we’re headed now and what our plan is and what we are going to take into permitting, because it is dramatically different from anything that has been spoken about with respect to Pebble in the past.” — Tom Collier, CEO of the Pebble Partnership
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  • Anchorage, Alaska<br />
Aug. 21, 2017<br />
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“Bristol Bay is the last place on earth that salmon thrive. We should care about that as a society.”<br />
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“We can talk about the economics of the commercial fishery and the sport fishery all day. But when it comes down to it, this is an indigenous rights issue that all people should be concerned about.”<br />
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“We’ll do whatever it takes. Whether it’s in the courtroom, whether it’s laying in front of bulldozers. Our people will do whatever it takes to protect this place.” — Alannah Hurley, Executive Director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay
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  • Dillingham, Alaska<br />
Oct. 24, 2017<br />
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“I know now that if I die tomorrow, that the people of Bristol Bay, the younger people of Bristol Bay will stand up and take them on.” — Robin Samuelson, Member Chief of Curyung Tribe and Chairman of Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation
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  • Alaska Peninsula Corporation's "Man Camp" at Kokhanok, Alaska<br />
Aug. 10, 2017 <br />
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Alaska Peninsula Corporation's "Man Camp" in Kokhanok, Alaska (The camp is owned by Talarik Research & Restoration Services LLC, a subsidiary of Alaska Peninsula Corporation.)<br />
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Aug. 10, 2017 “It means a lot. I get to stay home close to family and I don’t have to deal with traffic in Anchorage.” — Nicholas Mike, resident of Kokhanok and a local employee of the Kokhanok “man camp”
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  • Alaska Peninsula Corporation's "Man Camp" at Kokhanok, Alaska<br />
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Aug. 10, 2017 <br />
Alaska Peninsula Corporation's "Man Camp" in Kokhanok, Alaska. Researchers at the site are conducting studies for a road that would connect the proposed Pebble Mine to a port that the company would build, at Amakdedori, near Amakdedori Creek on the west side of Cook Inlet. An electric fence around the camp helps deter bears from entering the camp at the remote location.
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  • Alaska Peninsula Corporation's "Man Camp" in Kokhanok, Alaska<br />
Aug. 10, 2017<br />
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“This is the Kokhanok man camp. There’s approximately 12-15 tents here. You’ve got a nice lakefront view of Lake Iliamna in front, you’ve got the mountains behind us.”<br />
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“Alaska Peninsula Corporation has communities that are, what I consider, nearing the brink of abandonment. And we know that poor economy and lack of infrastructure are elements that contributed to those communities’ current situation.” — Brad Angasan, Corporate Affairs at Alaska Peninsula Corporation
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  • Alaska Peninsula Corporation's "Man Camp" in Kokhanok, Alaska<br />
Aug. 10, 2017<br />
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“This is the Kokhanok man camp. There’s approximately 12-15 tents here. You’ve got a nice lakefront view of Lake Iliamna in front, you’ve got the mountains behind us.”<br />
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“Alaska Peninsula Corporation has communities that are, what I consider, nearing the brink of abandonment. And we know that poor economy and lack of infrastructure are elements that contributed to those communities’ current situation.” — Brad Angasan, Corporate Affairs at Alaska Peninsula Corporation
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  • Ekwok, Alaska<br />
Oct. 25, 2017<br />
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“Whether it’s small, large, it doesn’t matter the size. It’s still going to contaminate our wetlands.”<br />
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“Without our subsistence, we’d be starving. I’d say 75 percent of our subsistence is fish.” — Crystal Jensen, City Manager of Ekwok
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  • Proposed Pebble Mine site<br />
Aug. 9, 2017<br />
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Workers fill in the holes where they had previously taken core samples at the proposed Pebble Mine site, 20 miles from Iliamna, Alaska.
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  • Proposed Pebble Mine site<br />
Aug. 9, 2017<br />
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"I got bills to pay. Gas ain't cheap in the village, electricity ain't cheap, oil ain't cheap to heat the house. There's nothing cheap in the village."<br />
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“That’s up to them. I’m just here trying to get some work done, trying to make some money for the family there, support them.” — Clinton Hobson, Kokhanok resident, Pebble Mine site employee
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  • Kokhanok, Alaska<br />
Aug. 10, 2017<br />
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A Kokhanok resident displays his “No Pebble Mine” cap.
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  • Anchorage, Alaska<br />
Nov. 9, 2017<br />
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“Looking at some of the EPA scenarios, which is what we’ve been using to compare it to, it’s roughly about half of what had been talked about before. This would be a 20-year mine life for the project.” — Mike Heatwole, Vice President of Public Affairs at Pebble Partnership
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  • Iliamna, Alaska<br />
Aug. 13, 2017<br />
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"Fuck that mine." — James Wassillie of Iliamna, Alaska.
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  • Kokhanok, Alaska<br />
Aug. 10, 2017<br />
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"Not too many people from Bristol Bay, and even less from this area, participate in the economic robust engine that we call commercial fishing in Bristol Bay. We need to find something different for them. I think that hopefully, if the mine can do it safely, then this will be an alternative way for them to survive."<br />
– Trefon Angasan, Alaska Peninsula Corporation Chairman of the Board
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  • Kokhanok, Alaska<br />
Aug. 10, 2017<br />
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"I've lived here since 1966, and the culture has changed. We went from a very nomadic small village to one that is entering into the modern age and we have to consider the next generations. We want to keep our subsistence lifestyle, but we also want our children and grandchildren to enter into the modern era with skills that will make them comfortable and they will have a piece of the pie." – Gwennith Angasan, Grew up in Kokhanok/Part-time Kokhanok Resident
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  • Kokhanok, Alaska<br />
Aug. 10, 2017<br />
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A dog known as 'Pebble' or 'Pebbles' in the window of a home in Kokhanok, Alaska, which belongs to Trefon Angasan, Chairman of the Board of Alaska Peninsula Corporation.
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  • Anchorage, Alaska<br />
Nov. 13, 2017<br />
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“The final sentence of Article 1, Paragraph 2 (of the United Nations International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights) states in no case may a people be deprived of their own means of subsistence. On this basis alone, you could put forth some fairly compelling rationale about why they’re concerned about the impact of this extractive industry.” — Dalee Sambo Dorough, Professor of Political Science at UAA
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  • Anchorage, AK<br />
Nov. 10, 2017<br />
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“There are going to be high levels of risk. You’re going to affect water flow, you’re going to affect water temperature, you’re going to affect turbidity — all of those natural occurrences that allow salmon to continue doing what they have so successfully done in Bristol Bay.”<br />
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“This is the equivalent of pushing the Lakota out of the Black Hills to mine for gold. This is the equivalent of pushing the Plains Indians out, killing off all the buffalo.” — Matt Newman, Attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, photographed in his office in Anchorage, Alaska.
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  • Proposed Pebble Mine site<br />
Aug. 9, 2017<br />
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"We're dealing with some artesian flow that is naturally coming to the surface. We are in the process of trying to abandon these artesians by capping them and plugging them. There's a channel of artesians (aquifers) that runs through this valley and throughout the whole deposit, I would assume. There's a lot of head pressure here. Over time they find a way to get to the surface, whether it be through drilling or natural formations." – Arron Fillery, Pebble Mine worker from Vancouver Canada
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  • Proposed Pebble Mine site<br />
Aug. 9, 2017<br />
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"We're dealing with some artesian flow that is naturally coming to the surface. We are in the process of trying to abandon these artesians by capping them and plugging them. There's a channel of artesians (aquifers) that runs through this valley and throughout the whole deposit, I would assume. There's a lot of head pressure here. Over time they find a way to get to the surface, whether it be through drilling or natural formations." – Arron Fillery, Pebble Mine worker from Vancouver Canada
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  • Dillingham, Alaska<br />
Oct. 26, 2017<br />
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Sockeye, or "red" salmon, from Bristol Bay is commercially valuable around the world and a mainstay for people who live in the Bristol Bay region.
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  • Dillingham, Alaska<br />
Oct. 26, 2017<br />
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Sockeye, or "red" salmon from Bristol Bay is commercially valuable around the world and a mainstay for people who live in the Bristol Bay region.
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  • Dillingham, Alaska<br />
Oct. 26, 2017<br />
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One way that some Bristol Bay residents have been resisting the development of the Pebble Mine is through art – wooden fish with sayings about protecting land, water, and fish decorate a wall of a downtown building in Dillingham.
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  • Igiugig, Alaska<br />
Aug. 12, 2017<br />
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"I grew up with it. Those are the two main things of my life I seem to know of, fish and berries." – Julia Salmon, Igiugig Resident
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  • Igiugig, Alaska<br />
Aug. 12, 2017<br />
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"We've watched salmon runs repeatedly throughout history disappear because of poor human management. This is a life-source, and food-source, and way of life for many people in this region and especially in our community, who rely on this and who can tie any aspect of their lives to fish in one way or another." – Christina Salmon, Igiugig Resident/Community Leader
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  • Igiugig, Alaska<br />
Aug. 12, 2017<br />
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"It is not something that I believe is right for the region. I do not believe you can ever mine safely or keep a tailings pond in(to) perpetuity without ever leaking into the last, wild sockeye salmon run in the entire world." – Christina Salmon, Igiugig Resident/Community Leader
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  • Igiugig, Alaska<br />
Aug. 12, 2017<br />
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A float plane on the Kvichak River at Igiugig where the river flows out of Lake Iliamna, down toward Bristol Bay, about 50 miles from the Pebble Mine site.
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  • Igiugig, Alaska<br />
Aug. 12, 2017<br />
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"I'm very against it (Pebble Mine). If we lose our Native culture we'll be nothing. The Mother Earth is our safety and the fresh water that comes out. We want to preserve it the way it is for the next generations to come." – Annie Apokedak Wilson, Igiugig Resident
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  • New Stuyahok, Alaska<br />
Oct. 26, 2017<br />
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The village of New Stuyahok is located midway between the proposed Pebble Mine site and Bristol Bay, and has a population of about 600 people, most of whom do not support developing the mine.
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  • Dillingham, Alaska<br />
Oct. 26, 2017<br />
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"I want people to know the threat now is probably greater than it was prior to the EPA coming out with the Watershed Assessment and the restrictions, with this administration and where it's heading." – Robert Heyano, President of United Tribes of Bristol Bay
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  • Ekwok, Alaska<br />
Oct. 25, 2017<br />
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Ekwok Alaska is located on the Nushagak River midway between the proposed Pebble Mine site and Bristol Bay, and has a population of about 100 people, most of whom do not support developing the mine.
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  • Kokhanok, Alaska<br />
Aug. 10, 2017<br />
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"If the Pebble Mine came in, it would almost destroy the local culture, and it would turn everybody against each other. I think there would be semi-millionaires and an awful lot of people that would be absolute paupers." – Jim Tilly, Pope-Vanoy Landing Resident
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  • New Stuyahok, Alaska<br />
Oct. 26, 2017<br />
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"Before you know it, one small mine, it starts the rest of them to follow. They'll be breaking the trail. So, I don't feel comfortable about them getting started up. I'd rather be doing the same things that I have been doing, from our clean land and our clean water, especially the clean water." –	Wassillie Andrews, New Stuyahok Traditional Council President, New Stuyahok, Alaska
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  • Ekwok, Alaska<br />
Oct. 25, 2017<br />
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"We're just worried about the toxins that would eventually get into the rivers or the streams. Our main source of food is fish and I think as soon as we get some toxins in there, it's going to kill off the smolts and the eggs." – Fred Tom Hurley Jr., Landfill Operator/Solid Waste Manager, Ekwok, Alaska
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  • Igiugig, Alaska<br />
Aug. 12, 2017<br />
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Although other big mines are in the works, if permitted and built, Pebble would be the largest in Alaska at nearly 13 square miles.
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  • Ekwok, Alaska<br />
Oct. 25, 2017<br />
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"If you want clean water, you do not want this thing, because they're going to dig it and then they are going to leave it and we're going to be stuck with it. And these people here, they live off the fish, they live off the moose, the caribou. And those rich people, they can't understand that. These guys are just in it for the buck. You can dress it anyway you want, but that's the truth." – Richard King, Ekwok Village Council Administrator/Fishing Lodge Owner, Ekwok, Alaska
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  • Anchorage, Alaska <br />
Nov. 19, 2017<br />
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“The change that will come with a development of that size will affect all levels of our life.”<br />
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“Well, our river is crystal clear and everybody really prides still being able to drink the water. And we have all five different species of fish that we rely on.”<br />
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“It is our haven. It is our paradise on earth. You just can’t beat it. And we already know that you can’t find it anywhere else in the world.” — AlexAnna Salmon, Igiugig Village Council President
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  • Dillingham, Alaska<br />
Oct. 26, 2017<br />
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Dillingham commercial fishermen: (left to right) Grant Williams (17), Drew Wassily (16), Dillon Chaney (16), Joseph Wassily-Walker (15), Bobby Nicholson (17), William Christopher Williams (17)<br />
Quote:<br />
"My grandfather fished, my great-grandfather fished, and I want to fish, I want my kids to fish, my grandchildren to fish. I want fishing to keep on happening." – Dillon Chaney, Commercial Fisherman, Dillingham, Alaska
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  • Dillingham, Alaska<br />
Oct. 26, 2017<br />
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"The Clean Water Act is there for a reason. It's a viable law and it is meant to protect areas just like Bristol Bay. Bristol Bay is unique to Alaska, to our country, to this hemisphere, and to the world. It's the home of the last, great wild sockeye fishery. There are not very many environments left like this, especially in the industrialized world. The Clean Water Act is meant to protect regions like Bristol Bay." – Robyn Chaney, Dillingham, Alaska
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  • Dillingham, Alaska<br />
Oct. 26, 2017<br />
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"The Clean Water Act is there for a reason. It's a viable law, and it is meant to protect areas just like Bristol Bay. Bristol Bay is unique to Alaska, to our country, to this hemisphere, and to the world. It's the home of the last, great wild sockeye fishery. There are not very many environments left like this, especially in the industrialized world. The Clean Water Act is meant to protect regions like Bristol Bay."<br />
– Robyn Chaney, Dillingham, Alaska
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