VANCOUVER, Feb. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") announces that the US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology has called on the new Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to rescind the federal agency's 2014 regulatory action under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to pre-emptively veto Alaska's Pebble Project.
A February 22, 2017 letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt from Committee Chairman Lamar Smith states: "The Committee recommends that the incoming Administration rescind the EPA's proposed determination to use Section 404(c) in a pre-emptive fashion for the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska. This simple action will allow a return to the long-established Clean Water Act permitting process and stop attempts by the EPA to improperly expand its authority. Moreover, it will create regulatory certainty for future development projects that will create jobs and contribute to the American economy."
Since 2014, Northern Dynasty and its 100%-owned subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership ("Pebble Partnership") have advanced a multi-prong strategy – including litigation, Congressional outreach, independent investigations, among other initiatives – to encourage EPA to withdraw its unprecedented regulatory action against Pebble. The Congressional Science, Space and Technology Committee has held several Pebble-related hearings in recent years, finding that EPA actions concerning the mineral development project in southwest Alaska were based on "a questionable scientific assessment that relied on predetermined conclusions," and that "EPA employees colluded with Pebble Mine opponents to stop the project."
The US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology's letter to EPA Administrator Pruitt can be read here.
Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ron Thiessen said the Committee's letter provides even greater impetus for EPA Administrator Pruitt to take timely action to reverse what many see as one of the leading examples of EPA over-reach, and return the Pebble Project to normal course permitting and the rule of law.
"All we have ever asked is for the opportunity to propose a comprehensive development plan for the Pebble Project, and to have it fairly and objectively reviewed against the extremely rigorous environmental standards and permitting requirements enforced in Alaska and the United States. Today, we are one step closer to earning that opportunity.
"We thank the Committee and staff for its careful and consistent scrutiny of the troubling issues that have characterized the EPA's treatment of the Pebble Project over the years, and its commitment to the well-established federal and state permitting process under the Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy Act."
About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset is the Pebble Project in southwest Alaska, USA, an initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral resources.
For further details on Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Project, 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
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