Alaska’s Pebble Mine, if built, would almost invariably leach toxic waste into the pristine waters of Bristol Bay. It’s hard to imagine the salmon – and the Native Alaskan culture dependent on them – surviving the mine intact. Alaska is prone to earthquakes, which increases the odds of dam failure.
International companies own the land where the mine would be. They claim it would create a couple thousand construction jobs and then a thousand ongoing jobs during the decade or two the mine would operate.
But Bristol Bay is a $500 million fishery, supporting 14,000 commercial and recreational jobs. It makes no sense to risk 14,000 permanent, sustainable jobs for 2,000 short-term jobs – and the high likelihood of the fishery collapsing.
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