OPINION: The Pebble mine review cannot be rushed. Here’s why.

The Alaska Senate majority recently conducted a poll to gauge Alaskans’ opinions on a wide-ranging set of issues. One question was whether Alaskans supported or opposed the proposed Pebble mine. Though the question assumed that “all environmental safeguards are met” for the mine, 61 percent of the 7,407 Alaska respondents still opposed its development.

OPINION: Pebble Mine: Golden egg or expensive lemon?

I've been asked recently to review the Pebble mine project, which will soon release its Draft Environmental Impact Statement. It's what I've done professionally for the past 29 years, though I usually work on the company side, rather than for the environmental opposition. My specialty is water treatment: I design systems that cleanse polluted water during the mining operation and after it closes. Thus far, what I've seen of this project isn't pretty.

Monterey Bay fishermen catch salmon as far away as Alaska. A proposed copper mine there poses a local threat.

TOM DIMAGGIO IS 96 YEARS OLD AND BLESSED WITH A FULL HEAD OF NEATLY COMBED WHITE HAIR AND A WARM HANDSHAKE. A fisherman for his whole career, he’s been retired for over 20 years and remains a vibrant member of the fishing community – only these days, the community is far from the dock and instead gathers at the East Village Coffee Lounge in Monterey to while away weekday mornings, sipping espresso and swapping stories.

Opinion: Fishermen need Sen. Murkowski’s support against Pebble Mine

As commercial fishermen convene in Juneau this week for spring meetings and Sen. Lisa Murkowski delivers her annual address to the Legislature, we’ll be listening and hoping for clear indications that she has our backs when it comes to ensuring that our Bristol Bay businesses and fisheries are given a fair shake in the federal permitting underway for the proposed Pebble Mine.