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ARPN President Testifies on Use of Questionable Research and Calls for Review of Data

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Daniel McGroarty, American Resources Policy Network President, provided testimony today on Capitol Hill concerning the EPA’s Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, a major environmental study in Alaska.

“The problem with the Assessment has always been that EPA is preempting the established Federal permitting process to evaluate a hypothetical mine,” said McGroarty. “Every issue raised in the Assessment could easily be reviewed within the existing permitting process, and there is simply no need for the expensive, new “pre-permitting process” that the EPA has created here.”

McGroarty addressed the EPA’s use of scientific studies in the assessment, particularly those conducted by Dr. Ann Maest, formerly Managing Scientist for Stratus Consulting. As McGroarty noted in a letter to Senators Boxer and Vitter earlier this year, Dr. Maest publicly disavowed environmental research she had conducted in Ecuador that was used to win an $18 billion judgment against Chevron, calling her integrity into question.

Furthermore in June, on behalf of the Northwest Mining Association, the global water and environmental management firm Schlumberger published an analysis of “Kuipers, Maest et al. 2006,” one of the studies that forms the basis of the EPA’s assessment. The Schlumberger report could not replicate the hydrological data presented in the Kuipers/Maest study – a fundamental tenet of sound scientific research. It also found a ‘backward bias’ inherent in any hypothetical construct, noting that the Kuipers/Maest study draws on a ‘preponderance’ of case studies taken from mines that operated before the modern regulatory era.

“Does it constitute ‘sound science’ to argue against a proposed mine based on what happened at other mines operated to other standards — 20, 30 or 40 years ago?” said McGroarty. “Would we use such a backwards-biased yardstick to judge the safety of a new airplane? A new car? A new medicine?”

McGroarty called for EPA to conduct an independent and impartial investigation of the use of studies conducted by Maest, and cautioned against using the Assessment to prevent Pebble from entering the Federal permitting process.

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The American Resources Policy Network is a non-profit education and public policy research organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit americanresources.org.

Details on the Congressional Hearing: The U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Space & Technology, Subcommittee on Oversight. 2318 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515. “EPA’s Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment – A Factual Review of a Hypothetical Scenario.” Aug 1, 2013 at 1:00pm:
http://science.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-oversight-hearing-epa-s-bristol-bay-watershed-assessment-factual-review

ARPN Letter to Senators Boxer and Vitter concerning the use of studies conducted by Maest in the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment:
http://americanresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ARPN-Letter-on-EPA-and-Stratus-Consulting-May-6-2013.pdf

Schlumberger/Northwest Mining Association Analysis of Kuipers, Maest et al. 2006: http://www.nwma.org/pdf/NWMA%20public%20comments%20final%20june29%202013%20Bristol%20Bay%20with%20appendix.pdf

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, “A Potential Copper Bonanza Runs Afoul of the EPA,” By Daniel McGroarty: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324436104578580092566535574.html

In a three-part series, Nick Slepko, a member of the The Motley Fool Blog Network, zeroes in on the importance of Copper. Considering the current controversy over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s actions regarding what could conceivably be the largest deposit of critical minerals in U.S. history – the Pebble Deposit in Alaska – the series couldn’t be any more timely.

Carrying the catchy title “Strippers, Greens, and Chinese Take Out: The Dark Side of Copper,” the first part of the series retraces the genesis of Copper’s status as a critical mineral, and examines its role as an “economic bellwether and political football.”

In part two, titled “American Copper – Boom or Doom,” Slepko surveys the U.S. domestic Copper production landscape and outlines the challenges faced by two promising Copper mining projects (the Pebble Mine, and the Rosemont Mine in Arizona) the implementation of which could “determine if America can stay on pace with Copper production – and potentially soar to new heights.”

The third part of the series, “Beware the Copper Stoppers,” takes a look at the economic impact of metal and mineral extraction, which “radiates far beyond the mines themselves” and addresses the precedent-setting and potentially devastating consequences of regulatory overreach on the part of the EPA in this field.

Concludes Slepko:

“With the battle finished in West Virginia, the EPA emboldened, and hundreds of thousands of dollars pouring into the opposition camp in Alaska, it’s not such a stretch to imagine the EPA taking its authority a step further and vetoing Pebble before the Partnership has entered the permitting process.

“That would certainly discourage investors like Anglo American and Northern Dynasty from plowing half a billion dollars into developing US copper resources any time soon. But it could have an even more pernicious effect if it spooks other investors in projects that need 404 permits to operate.”

In her latest piece for ProEdgeWire, Robin Bromby suggests that Tellurium may well be the newest critical metal. Citing two “throwaway lines” from recent reports and media reporting which indicate increased demand for the metal, Bromby goes on to give reasons why Tellurium should be placed on observers’ critical metals watch lists: “Tellurium is vital [...]

With the public commenting period for the EPA’s revised Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment now closed, Environment and Energy Publishing’s Manuel Quinones zeroes in on the comments submitted to the agency in his latest piece for E&E Daily (subscription required). According to the article, the battle lines are drawn on the push by environmentalist groups for [...]

The following op-ed by American Resources Principal Dan McGroarty was published in the Wall Street Journal on July 5, 2013. The original text can be found here. A Potential Copper Bonanza Runs Afoul of the EPA The metal is essential for wind turbines, but a proposed mine in Alaska has set off Keystone-like alarms. By Daniel [...]

As we’re approaching the end of the EPA’s (extended) public comment period for its revised Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, the surprises keep piling up. Only a few short days ago, the Washington Post – which is, as we’ve pointed out, not known to be a mouthpiece of the mining industry – came out against a [...]

Two days before President Obama is set to unveil his overhauled climate change agenda, the editorial board of the Washington Post has offered its take on what one of the paper’s own headlines has called: “one of the most important environmental decisions the president faces in his second term” – the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment. [...]

The issue of the White House blocking several Department of Energy regulations was raised at a recent Congressional hearing, the New York Times reports. The rules in question would require greater energy efficiency for appliances, as well as building and lighting. Critics argue that in spite of a 1993 executive order requiring the White House [...]

Washington Post calls issue “the biggest environmental decision…you’ve never heard of…” The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has officially extended the public comment period for its draft Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment – a review released in April in response to calls from anti-mining groups for the EPA to issue a preemptive permit veto under section 404(c) [...]

Dear Reader, We are writing to warn you of a federal action that could dramatically impact America’s domestic supplies of natural resources. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its revised draft Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment last month in response to calls from anti-mining groups for the EPA to issue a preemptive permit veto under [...]