Alaska Seeks Top Court’s Original Jurisdiction Over Pebble Mine

The EPA’s veto of the proposed Pebble copper mine that threatens to pollute Bristol Bay violates the legal basis for Alaska’s statehood, the state claims in a Supreme Court original jurisdiction filing this week.

The brief invokes the high court’s May wetlands ruling in Sackett v. EPA in the state’s claim that the agency’s veto illegally breaches an agreement with the federal government.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s veto is an “enormous intrusion into Alaska’s sovereignty” because it is an illegal “taking” of the state’s property, the state claims in a filing by Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor and attorneys at ...