Following the EPA’s January 2023 determination, revisit FRONTLINE’s look at a battle between those in Alaska who depend on Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery for a living and supporters of a proposed mine at the bay’s headwaters to extract mineral wealth. (Aired 2012)
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The Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska is home to the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world. It’s also home to enormous deposits of copper, gold and molybdenum that have been estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars. “Alaska Gold” delved into the complex fight over “Pebble mine,” including what happened when a group of Alaska Native tribes and commercial fishermen in Alaska petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to intervene.
“This — I believe this will be the biggest environmental fight of this century for Alaska,” former Alaska State Senator Rick Halford, a Pebble mine opponent, told FRONTLINE in the 2012 documentary.
“Alaska Gold” is a FRONTLINE production with Kenneth Levis Productions, LLC. The writer and producer is Kenneth Levis. The co-producer is Aaron Ernst. The reporter is Blaine Harden.
Explore additional reporting on "Alaska Gold" on our website, including a look at the EPA’s January 2023 “final determination” on Pebble mine:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/do...
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Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.
CHAPTERS:
Prologue - 00:00
The Divide Over Alaska’s Proposed ‘Pebble Mine’ - 00:50
What Are the Risks of Mining at Bristol Bay’s Headwaters? - 18:42
Permitting ‘Pebble Mine’ - 35:42
The EPA Steps in to the ‘Pebble Mine’ Battle - 45:10
Credits - 52:02