EPA has begun a formal process to determine whether the planned Pebble Mine would have an "unacceptable" adverse effect on Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed and its huge fishery - a move that appears to put the agency on an ail-but-inevitable - and rare - path of vetoing the project before a permit has been sought. The agency's recently completed assessment of the watershed "provided ample reason for EPA to believe that a mine of this size and scope ... would have significant and irreversible negative impacts on the Bristol Bay watershed and its salmon-bearing waters," EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said during a Feb. 28 press call, later adding that damage will "inevitably result" from the mine's construction, excavation and long-term maintenance.
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