EPA seems to have come to that conclusion -- but wouldn't it be a nice thing if the developers could at least get a "fair trial," before their project is executed?
You can't put a price on the value of the salmon to the people that live in Bristol Bay; they live off that watershed. 500-1000 jobs for 50 years against the richest fishery that remains. If a spill were to occur, the entire area would starve; at least now, they have their subsistence lifestyle which is way better than hunger.
If you ever lived rural, really lived off what the land and river provides; you would understand. Many of the same people fighting pebble are quite conservative but won't destroy their environment for promises of economic growth. The Indians will never permit Pebble to happen,just against their world view & cultural perspective.
Probably hard for urban conservative folks in lower 48 to understand; if you lived in rural Alaska, you would. Pebble could damage an area way more than oil development ever could and Alaskans know it. Political suicide to support it, even for a Republican.
The EPA is late coming to the game. There has been numerous studies and in fact the mine owners have admitted that just the creation of the mine will indeed destroy a lot of the salmon habitat by removing streams. Add the fact that they will create tailing ponds which will hold thousands of tons of toxic waste forever. This area is prone to earthquakes and the release of this battery acid like crap will destroy whatever it comes into contact with.
I would suggest for anyone interested in this is to search for Pebble Mine on Youtube and watch a few of them. There are some treehugger videos but there are some good fact based ones as well.