Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants the federal government to pony up more than $700 billion for blocking development of the contentious Pebble copper and gold mine in the state’s pristine Bristol Bay watershed, which supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.
The state of Alaska filed a legal complaint against the federal government Thursday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in the District of Columbia, part of a broader legal effort to reverse EPA’s veto of the project under the Clean Water Act last year. Separately, developers and proponents of the project filed legal challenges last week, also seeking to overturn the veto and secure compensation.
The lawsuit arrives on the heels of Dunleavy’s unsuccessful bid to have the Supreme Court weigh in on the matter. The court in January declined to take up the state’s complaint. Environmental groups, tribes and fishery groups that opposed the mine have expressed confidence that EPA’s veto will hold up in court.
The agency and the White House did not immediately respond when asked about the state’s legal challenge.
