Campaign

Help protect Bristol Bay, Alaska

March 27th, 2011 in Campaigns by adminView Comments

Mining giant Anglo American is headquartered in London. 4,500 miles away lies Alaska’s Bristol Bay: a place of pristine waters, which support a thriving commercial – and sustainable – salmon fishery. Yet this renewable resource is under threat from a proposed open-pit, gold and copper mine.

The ‘Pebble Mine’ would be the largest open-pit mine in all of north America: up to 2 miles wide and 500 metres deep; generating up to 9 billion tonnes of waste. This waste would be stored in ‘tailing ponds’ (essentially earthen dams), measuring up to 3 miles wide, and 200 metres high. Perhaps of biggest concern is the fact that the mine would be located on top of salmon spawning grounds (where salmon return to, to lay their eggs).

The fishery provides jobs for some 10,000 people, with an annual economic value estimated at $450 million – Anglo American’s plans will put one of the world’s largest remaining habitats of wild sockeye salmon at great risk.

The UK is the world’s largest importer of tinned Alaska salmon, importing 10,000 metric tons of salmon a year, worth on average over £30 million. Some 40% of the global supply of sockeye salmon comes from Bristol Bay so we in the UK are ideally positioned to support this campaign.

For more information about the Bristol Bay campaign please click here.

Early Day Motion (EDM) 1606 is a ‘parliamentary petition’ setting out a series of concerns about the proposed mine. It calls on the Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills to meet with Anglo American to express concern about the impact the mine will have on salmon stock and the local Alaskan environment.

The EDM comes as a result of ongoing discussions with local communities in Alaska and as a direct response of a meeting between Alaska Natives and Martin Horwood MP (Chair of the All Party Group for Tribal Peoples).

Please contact your MP to ask them to sign EDM 1606 by clicking on the “Take Action” link below:

Take Action