**NO Pebble Mine, Protect Bristol Bay**
Please urge the EPA to continue to permanently block any permits for the Pebble Mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay. This proposed copper and gold mine poses an unacceptable threat to the world's most productive salmon fisheries and the communities that depend on it.
Bristol Bay supports the largest sockeye salmon runs on Earth, with commercial fisheries generating over $1.5 billion annually and sustaining more than 14,000 jobs. The region's salmon runs are not only an economic engine but also the foundation of Alaska Native subsistence cultures that have thrived there for thousands of years. The Pebble Mine would sit at the headwaters of this irreplaceable ecosystem, where any failure of its massive tailings dams could devastate salmon habitat across millions of acres.
The EPA has the authority under the Clean Water Act to protect these waters, and I believe it must use that authority decisively. Previous EPA assessments have documented that the mine would eliminate or degrade between 87 and 94 miles of salmon streams and destroy thousands of acres of wetlands and ponds that serve as critical salmon rearing habitat. No mitigation measures can compensate for this scale of permanent damage to a functioning ecosystem.
The risk extends beyond environmental concerns. Commercial fishermen, sport fishing guides, Alaska Native villages, and seafood processors have all voiced overwhelming opposition to this project because their livelihoods depend on healthy salmon runs. The economic gamble of allowing this mine is not worth taking when Bristol Bay's renewable salmon resource already provides sustainable prosperity.
Please implore that the EPA deny any permits for the Pebble Mine and take all available regulatory action to ensure this project never moves forward. Bristol Bay's salmon and the people who depend on them deserve permanent protection from this threat.
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