"Congress Seeks Answers on Alaskan Mine Project"

"House investigators are seeking records from the developers of the Pebble Mine project and the Army Corps of Engineers, to determine whether the company misrepresented its plans."

"Democrats in the House of Representatives have begun an investigation into the Pebble project in Alaska, seeking records to determine whether developers of the proposed gold and copper mine deceived Congress and the Army Corps of Engineers about their plans.

In letters to the developers and corps officials, leaders of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure expressed concerns that recently released secret video recordings showed that the developers had played down the size and duration of the mine in public, while privately planning a much larger and longer project.

“It seems as though Pebble was dealing with two sets of facts: one to lure potential investors to the Pebble project, and one to alleviate fears of Alaskan Natives, the U.S. Congress and Federal agencies of potential adverse environmental impacts from the mine,” the committee’s chairman, Peter A. DeFazio, Democrat of Oregon, and a subcommittee chairwoman, Grace F. Napolitano, Democrat of California, wrote in one of the letters sent to John Shively, interim chief executive of the Pebble Limited Partnership."

Henry Fountain reports for the New York Times November 20, 2020.

SEE ALSO:

"Bristol Bay: Alaska Regulators Worked With Pebble On Wetlands Plan" (E&E News)

Source: NYTimes, 11/23/2020