EPA officials on Thursday announced they would take steps to protect the Bristol Bay watershed in Alaska from mining/USACE

Word Thursday from the Environmental Protection Agency that it was moving to protect the watershed of Bristol Bay in Alaska was hailed by groups opposed to a massive gold and copper mine proposed to be developed near Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.

In a statement, EPA said it was reinitiating "the process of making a Clean Water Act Section 404(c) determination to protect certain waters in Bristol Bay, Alaska. If such a determination is finalized, it would protect waters over the long term that are essential to commercial, subsistence, and recreational fisheries and other activities that support Alaska Natives and communities in the state."

“The Bristol Bay Watershed is an Alaskan treasure that underscores the critical value of clean water in America,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Today’s announcement reinforces once again EPA’s commitment to making science-based decisions to protect our natural environment. What’s at stake is preventing pollution that would disproportionately impact Alaska Natives, and protecting a sustainable future for the most productive salmon fishery in North America.”

The setting is an environmental and cultural wonderland. The proposed Pebble Mine would lie at the headwaters of two of the largest tributaries of Bristol Bay, and is directly between Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and Katmai National Park and Preserve. Fishermen, homesteaders, Native Americans, and fish and wildlife all depend upon this pristine area for life itself. Bristol Bay supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery on Earth.

The EPA's announcement, if carried out, would erect another wall blocking the proposed mine, which would require "an 82-mile road, pipeline and utilities corridor to a permanent, year-round port facility on Cook Inlet, a lightering location in Iniskin Bay, a 164-mile natural gas pipeline from existing energy infrastructure on the Kenai Peninsula to the Pebble mine site, a 270 MW natural gas-fired power plant at the mine site and smaller power generation facility at the port site."

Last November the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, deciding that the proposed mine was not in the best interest of the public, refused to issue a crucial permit needed to move the Pebble Mine forward. At the time, Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association, applauded the move, but added that "it does not afford permanent protections, which the region deserves and absolutely needs to prevent future threats. The National Parks Conservation Association continues to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to veto the project."

EPA's announcement Thursday was heralded by NPCA officials.

“Pebble Mine has plagued Alaska for decades, and it is welcome news that the EPA is returning to its mission and announcing steps to safeguard our region,“ said Jim Adams, NPCA's Alaska senior regional director. "It is a critical time for determining the future of Bristol Bay, and people, wild salmon, parks and wild places. While there is more work ahead, many of us in Alaska and across the country are energized and ready to put the disastrous Pebble Mine behind us forever.”

According to Trout Unlimited, the EPA's newly proposed protections "would limit the amount of waste water and mine waste discharge that could be released in to Waters of the United States in the Bristol Bay region."

“This is a smart and significant step toward putting more durable safeguards in place for Bristol Bay’s fish, clean water, communities and businesses,” said Nelli Williams, Alaska director for Trout Unlimited. “This is an important layer of protection that makes it much more difficult for the Pebble Partnership, or any other companies in the future, to mine the Pebble ore deposit. Now is the time to get these much-needed protections across the finish line, and we look forward to working with EPA and Congress to get it done. Let’s put the Pebble mine proposal in the review mirror for good so we can focus on a bright, prosperous and fish-filled future for Bristol Bay.”