A legal battle over the proposed Pebble mine in Alaska could drag on through next year as top attorneys leave the federal government, according to legal filings the Department of Justice submitted Tuesday.
Adam Gustafson, the acting assistant attorney general for DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, told a district court in Alaska that the Trump administration needs more time to respond to the mine developers’ challenges.
Pebble Partnership, a company wholly owned by Northern Dynasty Minerals, is suing the U.S. government for blocking its plans to build copper, gold and molybdenum mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed. EPA issued a rare veto of the project in 2023 under the Clean Water Act, warning it would harm the Bristol Bay watershed and fisheries there.
Gustafson said the timeline is also complicated by the departure of two DOJ attorneys at the end of this week.
