State of Alaska and Pebble Limited Partnership
prevail in latest case of anti-development litigation
October 4, 2011, Vancouver, BC --
Alaska Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth has ruled in favour of the State of
Alaska and the Pebble Limited Partnership (the "Pebble Partnership"
or "PLP") in a case brought by anti-Pebble activists who charged that
the state's system for permitting mineral exploration activity is
unconstitutional, and that PLP's exploration program has caused environmental
harm.
"This is not the first time that paid opponents of resource
development in Alaska have sought to use the state's court system and its
democratic processes to derail the Pebble Project before a development plan for
the project has been proposed or state and federal permitting begun," confirmed Ron Thiessen President & CEO of Northern Dynasty Minerals
Ltd. ("Northern Dynasty") (TSX: NDM), (NYSE Amex: NAK). "We
are pleased to see that, once again, the rule of law has prevailed. This
decision confirms that mineral resources on state land in Alaska are owned by
the citizens of the State, and the right to pursue responsible development of
those resources for the benefit of all Alaskans cannot be extinguished by
moneyed special interests."
The lawsuit in question was filed in Anchorage Superior Court in July
2009 by Trustees for Alaska (an environmental law firm) on behalf of Nunamta
Aulukestai -- an organization established and funded to oppose development of
the Pebble Project. It alleged that the Alaska Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) had violated the state constitution by granting exploration and temporary
water use permits to the Pebble Partnership, and that PLP exploration
activities had caused harm to vegetation, water, fish and wildlife. The Pebble
Partnership actively participated in the trial proceedings after being granted
intervener status.
Superior Court Judge Aarseth denied each of the allegations made by
Nunamta Aulukestai, and ruled that no evidence of environmental harm was
presented. He described one of the prosecution's expert witnesses, Lance
Trasky, as providing "seat of the pants assertions (that) were simply
not persuasive to this Court."
"It is not often that persons who oppose responsible resource
development in the United States are called upon to prove their accusations
with facts and empirical science, whereas resource developers are required to
demonstrate how their proposals will meet strict environmental standards," Thiessen said. "The totally unsupported allegations of Nunamta
Aulukestai in this case are illustrative of the rhetoric that anti-Pebble
activists have used to alarm local people about the potential effects of the
Pebble Project, a project that has not yet even entered the permitting process.
"The good news for supporters of responsible resource development
in Alaska and the United States is that the legal system, the regulatory and
permitting system and the rule of law in these jurisdictions are strong. The
Pebble Project will ultimately be judged on its merits and the quality of the
environmental safeguards it has established to protect fish, water, subsistence
activities and other important values in the region. On that basis, we remain
confident that Pebble is a technically sound and economically robust project
that will provide significant benefits for local residents and the State of
Alaska for decades into the future."
Other findings in Judge Aarseth's 154-page ruling in the case Nunamta
Aulukestai vs. State of Alaska, DNR and Pebble Limited Partnership include:
�
There is no persuasive evidence that
drilling activities have caused impacts to fish or fish habitat.
�
Plaintiff's evidence was
insufficient to show that drilling activities have caused impacts to wildlife
or wildlife habitat.
�
There is no evidence that mineral
exploration activities have caused significant and permanent impacts to
vegetation.
�
There is no evidence that exploration
activities have impacted any archeological or cultural resources.
�
Pebble's drilling operation and
water withdrawals do not impact reasonable concurrent use of water by fisheries
resources.
�
Plaintiffs failed to show that
Pebble's drilling operation impacted reasonable concurrent use of state lands
by wildlife resources.
�
Pebble's exploration activity has
not excluded hunting guides.
�
Plaintiffs failed to show that the
exploration activity at Pebble has impacted or excluded subsistence users.
Thiessen said the Pebble Project will likely face
further legal, legislative and process challenges in the future, noting a
ballot measure currently before voters in the Lake and Peninsula Borough, the
local taxing jurisdiction (similar to a County) in which the Pebble Project is
located. The stated intent of the anti-Pebble activists who sponsored the
ballot measure is to change the borough's development code to prohibit
large-scale development throughout the 31,000 square mile jurisdiction.
The proposed ballot measure has been opposed by a broad range of Alaska
entities, including the State of Alaska, the Pebble Partnership, the Resource
Development Council for Alaska, the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, the
Alaska Miners Association, Alaska Council of Producers, the Alaska Oil and Gas
Association, Alaska Industry Support Alliance, among others. Alaska Native
village corporations representing seven Native communities in the Lake and
Peninsula Borough have also publicly opposed the ballot measure, stating that it
would restrict economic development opportunities on their lands and throughout
the region.
"We are strongly of the view, and this view is shared by many
Alaska business and political leaders, that the initiative is unequivocally
unconstitutional because it seeks to restrict development of state-owned
resources on state lands through a municipal ordinance," Thiessen said. "We know that a large and growing coalition of
elected leaders, business people and Native tribes in the borough have
mobilized to defeat the initiative, and we're optimistic that voters will
ultimately understand that it is a cynical attempt by outside interests --
notably a single wealthy lodge owner who has bankrolled the entire campaign --
to restrict all forms of development in their region.
"If the measure is passed, we're confident that the rule of law in
Alaska will prevail yet again, and the proposed legislation will be struck down
by the courts as being unconstitutional."
About the Pebble Project
The Pebble Project is an initiative of the Pebble Partnership to
responsibly develop a globally significant copper, gold and molybdenum deposit
in southwest Alaska into a modern, long-life mine. The project is located 200
miles southwest of Anchorage on state land designated through two public land
use planning exercises for mineral exploration and development. It is situated
approximately 1,000 feet above sea-level, 65 miles from tidewater on Cook Inlet
and presents favourable conditions for successful mine site and infrastructure
development.
The Pebble Project consists of the Pebble deposit, surrounding mineral
claims and a stream of financing provided by Northern Dynasty's project partner
Anglo American US (Pebble) LLC. The Pebble Partnership was established in July
2007 as a 50:50 partnership between a wholly-owned affiliate of Northern
Dynasty and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anglo American plc. Both Northern
Dynasty and Anglo American have equal and identical rights of management,
operatorship and control in the Pebble Partnership.
Under the terms of the Pebble Limited Partnership Agreement, Anglo
American is required to elect to commit $1.5 billion in staged investments in
order to retain its 50% interest in the Pebble Project. Funds provided by Anglo
American are currently being invested in comprehensive exploration,
engineering, environmental and socioeconomic programs toward the future
development of the Pebble Project.
About Northern Dynasty
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. is a mineral exploration and development
company based in Vancouver, Canada, which holds indirect interests in 650
square miles of mineral claims in southwest Alaska, USA. Northern Dynasty's
principal asset is a 50% interest in the Pebble Partnership, owner of the
Pebble Copper-Gold-Molybdenum Project. The Pebble Project is an advanced-stage
initiative to develop one of the most important mineral resources in the world.
For further details on Northern Dynasty please visit the Company's
website at www.northerndynasty.com or contact Investor services at (604)
684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public
filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.
Ronald W. Thiessen
President & CEO