By Suzanne Downing 
The US Chamber of Commerce has stepped into the long-running legal fight over the Pebble Mine project, filing an amicus brief on Tuesday in federal court that signals a major escalation in one of Alaska’s most contentious development battles.
The Chamber, the country’s largest business advocacy organization, submitted its motion to US District Judge Sharon Gleason, asking the court to accept its friend-of-the-court filing in support of Northern Dynasty Minerals, the Canadian parent company behind Pebble.
The move gives Pebble a powerful new ally as the company continues to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 veto of the mine under the Clean Water Act. That veto, which halted the project before it could advance toward construction, cited the potential for catastrophic impacts to Bristol Bay’s world-leading sockeye salmon fishery. Pebble’s supporters argue the EPA far exceeded its authority and imposed a precedent-setting blockade on domestic mining projects, while opponents, including environmental groups, maintain the watershed is too valuable and too vulnerable to risk.
The Chamber frequently files amicus briefs in high-stakes regulatory cases and has long advocated for what it sees as clear, predictable permitting rules for major resource projects. In this case, the organization is expected to argue that the EPA’s actions undermine investor confidence, discourage development of critical minerals needed for manufacturing and energy technologies, and set a troubling standard for federal intervention before a project can even complete its permitting review.
Pebble Mine has been in regulatory limbo for more than a decade, surviving shifting political winds, repeated environmental reviews, and fierce public opposition. Proponents tout the potential economic impact, including as many as 1,000 direct jobs in a region hungry for year-round employment, along with billions in projected tax revenues and infrastructure investment. Opponents counter that Bristol Bay’s salmon habitat is irreplaceable and that even a single failure in waste containment could permanently damage the fishery and the communities that depend on it.
The case remains active before the US District Court for the District of Alaska, and Judge Gleason has not yet scheduled a hearing on the Chamber’s motion. Additional filings are expected as the dispute over the EPA’s veto continues to unfold.
” it undermines investor confidence”well nofeces, colombo. It is INTENDED to do just that. The point is to harm the business, hopefully, in the left’s view, fatally, they seek to destroy the economy to replace it with a top down command system in their grubby little hands so they can” reward their friends and punish their enemies”… Barack Obama. When your enemy tells you what theyintend.. You should believe them and act accordingly
The CoC didn’t include commercial fishing in their statement.
A zombie project if ever there was one.
Hardly a zombie project. As long as there is a need for rare earths, there will be a need for Pebble. Cheers –
Hans… Often wrong, but never in doubt