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EPA Releases Bristol Bay Mine Study

01/15/2014

EPA Releases Bristol Bay Assessment Describing Potential Impacts to Salmon and Water From Copper, Cold Mining

Agency launched study after requests for action to protect Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining

SEATTLE -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today released its final Bristol Bay Assessment describing potential impacts to salmon and ecological resources from proposed large-scale copper and gold mining in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The report, titled "An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska," concludes that large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed poses risks to salmon and Alaska Native cultures. Bristol Bay supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world, producing nearly 50 percent of the world’s wild sockeye salmon with runs averaging 37.5 million fish each year.