The Battle for Bristol Bay - The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Freshwater in the Twenty-First Century - page 266

and power lines and people would destroy the delicate tundra. Most of all, they worried
about how much water Pebble would use and what sorts of toxins the mine could re-
lease into local waterways.
“If our people knew that Pebble would truly benefit them, with no risk to the envir-
onment or water, then I think they'd listen,” said Lisa Reimers , a Yupik woman on the
board of the Iliamna Development Corporation, a for-profit Native corporation that is
working with the PLP. To the Natives who live near the mine site, Pebble represents the
possibility of a steady income and an enhanced, modern way of life, but many Natives
are ambivalent about the mine, fearing it could spell the end to their traditional lifestyle.
“We are a small community. We are not wealthy. We are fishermen. But fishing is not
sustaining our community,” said Reimers. On the other hand, she added, “The mine is a
complete unknown, and people are not sure about it.”
Alaska is proud to define itself as a resource state. But in Bristol Bay, two of its defin-
ing resources, minerals and fish, have come into direct conflict on a large scale. While
the mining giants behind PLP have defined their claim, many smaller exploration com-
panies are sampling the area nearby for precious metals. If Pebble is permitted, dozens
of other companies will file mining claims, which will radically change the region. The
oil and gas industries are also hoping to drill offshore in Bristol Bay.
Pebble has created deep schisms, splitting families, disrupting state politics, and,
thanks to Sarah Palin's involvement, making national headlines during the 2008 presid-
ential election. While many Native Alaskans are tempted by the mine's jobs, many oth-
ers are troubled by Anglo American's record in South Africa, where ten thousand loc-
al people were allegedly moved from two villages to make way for an Anglo platinum
mine (the company blamed local officials and denied it had told police to use force
against protestors). In 2009, a delegation of Native elders flew to London to protest the
Pebble project outside Anglo American's annual meeting. A few months later, envir-
onmental activists dressed up as salmon protested the Pebble mine outside Congress
in Washington, DC. Activists pressured Tifany & Co, Fortunof, and prominent inde-
pendent jewelers in the United States and England not to use gold extracted from the
Pebble mine.
The debate over Bristol Bay, with its wide implications for the US and the global eco-
nomy, mining, and water politics, is being closely monitored by investors and environ-
mentalists in Anchorage; Vancouver; Ottawa; Seattle; New York; Washington, DC; Lon-
don; Zurich; São Paulo; Johannesburg; Melbourne; Bombay; and Tokyo.
Lying about a hundred miles upstream of Bristol Bay, the Pebble site is spongy and
wet. Forty inches of rain and snow falls there annually , and so much groundwater sur-
rounds the deposit that it is difficult to quantify. Indeed, the site is so remote and phys-
ically challenging that the government has never attempted to map it. As you fly over-