The Biden administration will deny permission for a 211-mile (340km) industrial road that runs through the Arctic National Park and Preserve in the northern half of the state, leading to a large copper deposit, dubbed Ambler Mining District
Major Alaska mining project to be halted over tribal concerns. (Credit: Will Suddreth on Unsplash)
The US Department of Interior is set to halt a major mining development in Alaska over concerns that several local tribes will be disrupted by the project.
According to multiple news reports, the Biden administration is expected to deny permission for a 211-mile (340km) industrial road that leads to a large copper deposit.
The industrial road project runs through the Arctic National Park and Preserve, a major piece of protected land in the northern half of the state.
The proposed move is anticipated to end a long-term conflict between local tribes, opposing the project due to its impact on subsistence hunting, a part of some tribal lifestyles across the state.
The project was also a centre for controversy as it was approved a few days before Donald Trump left the US presidential office.
It was approved by the head of the Department of Interior who was found to have covered up environmental and tribal impacts studied as part of the planning process, reported Politico.
With the refusal of the permit for the construction of a road, large copper and zinc deposits in northwest Alaska, dubbed Ambler Mining District, will lack road access and supply chain.
Ambler Mining District is anticipated to produce minerals that are key components in the production of batteries and engines for electric vehicles.
The Tanana Chiefs Conference, a group representing several tribal villages, had fought against the project and warned that the road and related mines would pose impacts on the ecosystem.
The project would impact the fish in-migration and out-migration, spawning and rearing habitat, and will compromise species at risk like Chinook.
Conference said: “The Ambler Road will pierce the heart of the hunting and fishing lands that our people have depended on for thousands of years.
“The road alone would cause harmful impacts along 125 miles and 200,000 acres of public lands managed by the State in trust for its people. The Ambler Road project would be one of the biggest and most destructive in the State’s history.”