U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Draft Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment 

Record of Public Comment Meeting 

Levelock, Alaska - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 

[00:00:51.17] 

Ray Apokedak 

My name is Raymond Apokedak, vice president, and I wanted to talk about the wetlands. If you 

go for a plane ride you can see all the lakes and creeks and all of that stuff. I am a commercial 

fisherman, and I want my son and my grandsons to enjoy what we have today and I don't want 

it to be lost. Like subsistence fishing now, mostly, I don't want anything to happen to our way of 

life. The way I grew up and the way I want my family to be. Mine was short and sweet. 

[00:02:22.01] 

Peter Apokedak 

My name is Peter Apokedak. I am an elder here at Levelock. All my life I been doing 

subsistence fishing myself. I am a salmon fisherman. I know the area where the mining is 

going to be. I went to school in Newhalen. That is why I know the country from subsisting. 

Caribou, moose, porcupine, ptarmigans, and we drink out of the creek. We didn't have bottled 

water then. Pure water. What I don't like about this mine is that it is in the wrong place. 

Everyone is telling me this too. It's the wrong place. Our Bristol Bay watershed on one side 

and the Nushagak on the other side. That is not going to be a little hole, they are going to make 

a gigantic of a hole up there. The way I look at it, there not big hills up there. It is little hills 

where they are going to be digging and it is all pretty much swamp. (Couldn't understand 

sentence). Everyone is going to see it. In my lifetime, I will probably be gone by the time it gets 

going. The elders always say from the beginning, don't start it. We are here now, and some of 

us are against it. 

[00:05:15.29] 

Danielle Dawkins 

My name is Danielle Dawkins and I come from reindeer herders on my Moms side and wagon 

train travelers on my Dad's side. It is from these two diverse cultures that I have the privilege to 

come to you today. I am currently a member of the Levelock village council and recently 
became a BBNC shareholder due to the recent loss of my mom (Marlis). First of all I would like 

to express my gratitude to you for the hard work that has been put thus far into the watershed 

assessment. I urge you to pay especially close attention to the voices of our elders all across 

Bristol Bay. They have instilled in them the deepest of our roots, and our God given way of life; 

our culture that has been slowly fading away. It is the adaptation to modern civilization that we 

have embraced so far, that it is causing our cultures to become lost. With this in mind, it is not 

about our unwillingness to adapt to a money-making economy. Our village, through the help of 

BBEDC grants will be implementing and will be utilizing a fish processing plant that will employ 

up to 22 local residents with the potential for growth. This employment will help us to become a 

more sustainable community. For how long? It is detrimental to our way of life to hang on to 

the ingenuity of the proposed Pebble project. Pebble area, an area that is monumental to the 

integrity of the Bristol Bay fisheries, both locally and globally. Regardless of some opinions, my 

subsistence way of life is a necessity and not just done for pleasure. I save thousands of 

dollars a year by smoking, canning, salting and freezing fish that our mighty Kvichak provides. 

Along with the berries, and caribou, moose, rabbits and plentiful birds that my sons bring home 

to me. Nothing makes me more proud than knowing that these traditions have been passed on 

to us for thousands of generations. 

Figure 5-14 on page 566 and figure 5-16 on page 573 illustrates the proposed transportation 

corridor and the distribution of salmon, Dolly Varden, rainbow trout and the sockeye spawners 

that use this area. What, if any areas of similar construction can you provide regarding the 

overall risk of this type of destruction to the spawning population? The destruction and the risks 

of this making it are far too great for me to just sit back and not inquire if whether or not the 

proposed Pebble mine, our existing fisheries and our subsistence way of life can really coexist? 

Natural disasters are unknowable, unstoppable and unpredictable in most cases. I ask that you 

please delve deeper into these natural occurrences and the potential it plays on the 

withstandings of the proposed pit, and things to be built, especially the seismic activity around 

the proposed Pebble site. It is my understanding that perhaps the fault lines run closer than 

what is illustrated in the figure 4-11 on page 442. 

My understanding from reading the draft assessment has proven to me that damage could 

result if Pebble gets to proceed with the proposed pit, TSF and transportation corridor. Manmade is not fool proof and no one guarantee the stability of the structures that the proposed 

Pebble site is planning on building when there is a lack of documentation on TSF withstandings 
and failings. Furthermore, the devastation that is left in the wake of past mining projects, for 

example Fort Belknap and Johannesburg is mind boggling. Can that happen here? It would be 

wonderful if all industries could co-exist without damages done. However, there are too many 

"could happen and if" scenarios in the assessment on the damages that will take place should 

anything fail during this project. It is a risk that I'm not willing to stand by and watch without solid 

guarantees and comparisons showing that they will not. If there is any doubt that catastrophe 

could happen to the area surrounding the site, I urge you to take necessary action under 404(c) 

and protect our Bristol Bay wetlands, streams and our subsistence way of life. It clearly states 

that your mission is to protect human health and the environment. Our subsistence way of life 

plays a substantial role in our health both spiritually and physically. 

[00:10:06.28] 

New sound file started 

Olga Chukwak 

Spoken in Yup'ik 

She said that she is against the Pebble Mine too. All the people she talked to up the lake, the 

same. They don't want a mine. The elders used to tell her that the mine would ruin all our fish. 

She is doing her best to get it out to us. (Translator says at end that he missed most of it.) 

New sound file started 

George Wilson, Jr. 

Hello, my name is George Wilson, Jr. And I am the president of the Levelock Natives 

Corporation and we are the largest single landowner on the Kvichak River. The corporation 

feels as a whole, that they are worried about the Pebble project and what would it do to the 

fisheries here. They strongly oppose it. I’ve been a commercial fisherman for 33 years and I 

learned that craft from my Dad and my grandfather. I have two young daughters and I hope 

they grow up in it. It provided me with income, but also subsistence for our household. Just as 

everyone has a home here in Levelock, everyone has fish and game in it because of the rich 

resource we have here. It is pristine and healthy environment is why our elders moved here 

and stayed here. I have two young fishermen who fish with me, and they are both from 

Levelock. I teach them the craft of being a fisherman and I hope someday that I can see them 

in their own boats fishing alongside me. That would be one of the benefits that I can bring on to 

young fishermen. This is a small community that is still a very strong fishing community. We 
have a little processing plant that we hope to get started soon that will provide jobs to a lot of 

people. I don't like the rhetoric that we get from Pebble that there aren't any jobs here. I've 

been able to work most of my adult life. Some of them aren’t the most glamorous, but there are 

always jobs. Fishing is a huge part of that. It put me through college and I hope that someday it 

can put my girls through college. 

I grew up in Igiugig and Levelock here. I grew up on the river with my Dad. We subsistence 

fished and got berries, harvest moose and caribou every year. Only because of the clean 

environment there are all of these resources for us to take. Some of the questions I have of 

EPA: You talk about what would happen up there if there was a large failure and what the effect 

would be on salmon on just on these two river systems. What would it do to the surrounding 

area such as the birds and the animals? Everything has a secondary effect. Second, the 

Pebble Mine site, you talk about the footprint, but as you said earlier, it's completely surrounded 

by leases. If Pebble was to get started it would bring in infrastructure, power, and roads that 

would make it more viable for the smaller leases to start up or go into partners with Pebble. All 

of a sudden the picture gets a whole lot bigger. It is already largest in N. America. Thanks for 

coming to listen to us. 

[00:03:29.28] 

Moses Kritz 

Thank you for the opportunity. My name is Moses Kritz and I am from Togiak. Thank the 

Levelock folks for sharing their subsistence foods this afternoon. I am from Togiak and it is the 

furthermost west of Bristol Bay. Definitely, we will be affected because the most recent trade I 

did was with herring roe and seal oil with a person from Koliganek for Whitefish. That way we 

definitely will be affected. This afternoon, my topic is economic development and economic 

sustainability of our community. It has always been the focus of our community to have the 

subsistence way of life, and currently in a partnership with our tribe and Copper River Seafoods, 

processing high-grade salmon and halibut and educating our local fisherman on bleeding and 

icing our salmon as soon as it comes out of the water. The waters of Togiak and marketing our 

fish to the high end users to our great country of the USA. Please continue to help us protect 

our waters that continues to sustain our livelihood and for the protection of our salmon. This is 

culturally our way of life. Please consider 404(c), protecting our environment and the salmon. I 

thank you again for the opportunity to be as we have been throughout the centuries. 
[00:06:04.23] 

Norm Anderson 

I would first of all like to thank Levelock Natives for allowing me to give testimony today on 

traditional lands. For anyone who doesn’t know me, I'm Norman Anderson, originally from 

Naknek. I'm youngest son of Edward G Anderson of (?) and Alma Christenson of Ugashik. I am 

a third generation fisherman and I live a subsistence lifestyle. During the winter months, I'm 

employed with the Economic Development Administration out of Dillingham with the BBNA as 

the Economic Development Program Manager. Regardless of what is offered to the tribes 

throughout the years, we have always pursued sustainable economic development to ensure 

the fact that as we over the years have appreciated the seven generations scenario, to assure 

into the future what we have today as our generations before us. We must be sure to gingerly 

take care of our lands. When I was in college, I once read where the Native Alaskan people 

carved a living out of a harsh environment. I felt proud, and then I thought that is BS. We live in 

harmony with the land. The way we take it and we see it. We know how to read the land; we 

know how to read the waters, because that was handed down to us one generation to the next. 

In several meetings I have been to, I see where the argument always comes up about putting a 

price on our subsistence foods and they say they cannot do that. I agree because of the fact 

that it is priceless to us. It cannot be replaced. If anything was to come about where there was 

a natural or manmade (disaster), we would not be able to replace that. Farmed salmon is not a 

thing I like. Wild Alaskan Salmon. They try manipulating genes and species and you come up 

with mad cow disease and you come up with Frankenfish and it is just appalling. We have the 

most natural and abundant product here with us. Because of the fact that we as the indigenous 

people have always taken care of what we have. We take what we need. We share with the 

less fortunate until we need more and have it available to us. If you look in Webster’s dictionary 

and look up the term subsistence, all of our pictures would be next to it because we are the 

perfect example of that. What we learned from the elders we teach to the youth. The elders 

shared with us the fact that we only take what we need and they taught us how to prepare it. As 

we experienced here this evening. My personal feelings on the 404(c) - we do need this 

assistance. For years we fought off everything from epidemics to weather to invading countries 

and other things that are happening and we see it happening again. Years ago, when I was a 

board member with BBNA, we were approached by a Tech Cominco. At the time, their man 

who approached us gave a long presentation on the benefits of mining and when we found out 

where it was we said no. Surprisingly to some, the government process for this particular 
process worked, because that individual no longer worked for the mining industry, but was given 

a position in the state department of land management. There is always this attitude of drill 

baby drill such as the current governor, that he inherited from the last governor who ran for 

governor and then ran. 

I agree that the timeline for comment should remain as it is, because of the fact that the 

opposition would review what we had and then it would give them the feed to retaliate. 

Additional time is just smoke and mirrors. It is a game play. Stick to your guns. We offer you 

what we have for generations; the consistency, maintaining the integrity that we have and 

preserving our lands. 

[00:11:38.15] 

Russell Nelson 

My name is Russell Nelson. First I want to talk about your summary you guys put out. I read it. 

It’s a very easy read, it was very well done. I loved the pictures even. You did a good job of 

going over things. I looked at your main report. Vol. 1 2 and 3, I haven't had time to study it, 

but as I went through the pages, I noticed that inside of there, most of it is factual information. 

There is nothing really to comment on because you guys made such a nice document that I 

know people around here are going to want copies of it, just so that they can write their grants 

and get the statistics out of it. You did a really wonderful job of the demographics. Not a whole 

lot to comment on, maybe other than add a few things like the seismic data that are lacking in 

everybody's data. The Pebble Partnership 30,000 pages had had just 7 pages and two of those 

were copied out of someone else’s and basically they said that all we think is that the Lake 

Clark fault goes either north or south and it doesn't go south and yet we know that this a fault 

zone. I think we know that there is a huge hole in the seismic data, so when they start planning 

things like the tailings dam, I noticed that you guys have the three types of normal tailings dams 

that they have and one of them is more susceptible to breakage than the other. If they are 

allowed to build it, they have to be able to build it right and that will take seismic data. 

Please make sure this effort is done on time. This tactic of delay this, lets delay this forever, but 

this is too important to the people of this region for delay. When you talk about July 23, to end 

the comment period, the main commercial fishery is done by then. People are getting their 

boats ready now, but it is not a hurry rush thing. It is not going to be for a few weeks until we 

have a fishing season. I talked to my parents and they are pretty old, and if you think they are 
going to read this document, and comment on it. They are leaving up to people like us. I am 

three courses away from a bachelor’s degree and I'm reading it and I'm saying I can comment 

on everything that I need to comment on during this time. It's not too short and so let’s get it 

done so we can move down the line. 

We need to ensure three things about this area. #1 This is the initial footprint of a mine this 

size. We need to ensure that they don't put tailings in salmon spawning streams. We need 

every single salmon. We have more permits and we can stop the BB run already and F and G 

does and good job and lets the escapement go through. The king salmon is a very important 

part of our fishery. If you cover that portion of the king salmon spawning beds, it is going to 

make it very hard to for us to maintain our culture of people who eat king every year. It's the 

first fish of the year, it's a very important fish for us and we can't have that huge loss. And we 

can’t stand to have toxins and mixing zones up there and we can’t stand to have that place 

dewatered. Fish need water. That is why we have the fish here. We cannot stand to take care 

of that mine site forever and have perpetual remediation and an empty sulfide mine that goes 

bankrupt after they have taken all of the money out and taken it overseas to their shareholders 

wherever they may be. Those are the really important things. We need to protect the salmon, 

protect the spawning beds and if they can build that mine without endangering the spawning 

beds and without injuring the fish have at it, but please protect the salmon. 

[00:16:15.16] 

Sergie Chukwak 

My name is Serge Chukwak. My grandson will be the 5th generation commercial fisherman. I 

started out fishing on the south beak in S. Naknek, known as Johnson hill some 40 years ago 

helping out my aunt and grandma. Then in 1980 I started drifting with my mom and oldest 

brother in an open skiff. We asked for a bunk and they put a cabin on our skiff and we were 

happy. I have four children. My son started out fishing when he was four years old, a couple of 

weeks in the fall. He started fishing from the beginning to the end the next year when he was 

five. A couple of weeks ago he graduated from high school. Two years ago he ran his own 

fishing boat. He was the youngest captain in 2010. My point is that fishing for my family and I is 

our life, whether it be subsistence or commercial fishing. Family history: I had great aunts who 

lived in New Koliganek, Ekwok and New Stuyahok. Aunts and Uncles in Newhalen and Igiugig. 

All of my family lives in the Nushagak and Kvichak drainage. You contaminate or take away of 

their subsistence lifestyle is unacceptable. To tell the elders that they cannot eat the salmon 
because there is contaminated and you can only have 8 ounces a day of contaminated farm 

fish, or you can die of cancer. The elders, to tell them that they can't eat fish and change their 

lifestyle. They are going to do it anyway. Eat it until they go to the hospital. They will eat fish 

whether it's good for them or not. Personally, I think they will do it until the day they die. They 

don't do anything else. I hope they know better. 

I encourage you to restrict large scale mining in the Nushagak and Kvichak drainages for the 

health and safety of the people and for the descendants of the people who intend to remain in 

this area and who call this land home. The only difference between the people who live in the 

city and the people who live in rural Alaska is that your backyard has a fence around it. Our 

backyard is 20 miles in every direction and that is where we live. That is our backyard and to 

fence it off and keep someone out to keep the contaminants out, it just won't happen. They are 

not able to do it. Before they put the first dam on the Columbia River, there was a lot of salmon 

in Washington. Now there are a lot of dams and barely any salmon to speak of. We allow one 

mine here. There are claims all the way from Yellow Creek to behind Nondalton. If they allow 

one pit to happen that pit is going to be from my backyard up to my cousin’s backyard about 120 

miles. That is unacceptable. If you the EPA allow this mine to happen are you willing to be the 

very person who puts an end to the people who subsistence hunt and fish in this area for the 

last 6000 years. My observation is don't allow large scale mining to happen and contaminate 

our waters. Sorry, I got a little emotional here. Don't do it. Put this nightmare to rest for once 

and for all. 

[00:22:16.06] 

Arthur Bloom 

I wrote out my comments so that I can be understood but I will keep it short. I first want to say 

that it is a privilege to live in a democracy where we have the opportunity to speak to everyone 

and I'm also quite privileged to be in the same room with these people who have lived in 

harmony with the land since the beginning. My name is Arthur Bloom. I came to Alaska almost 

40 years ago to work as a research fisheries biologist. For the past 21 years I have commercial 

fished in Bristol Bay. I thank you for doing a science based assessment. While I am sure you 

have heard from proponents of corporate profit, and that government is overreaching in state 

affairs; I believe it was absolutely necessary for you to take the lead on a science based 

assessment. Oops is not an acceptable outcome in the world’s most productive salmon habitat. 

The likelihood of spills, contaminated discharges and other failures is considerable. There 
cannot be guarantees and no way to repair the damage once it occurs. The risk of mining 

activity once it occurs in Bristol Bay is severe. Minute concentrations of copper affect salmon, 

not to mention acid production and all the other potential impacts of monumental size 

construction activity. Witness the demise of the Alaska coastal zone management program and 

the formation just the other day of groups to oppose the reinstitution of the ACZMP. Based on 

that I personally believe that the state of AK permitting process which has been tweaked in 

recent years to favor dollar based development, is not capable of assessing the risks of this 

unique situation that involves unique life styles, unbelievable natural resource productivity and 

hugely valuable economic productivity that when managed properly can be sustained in 

perpetuity. Proponents of mining development are asking to extend the comment period. That 

can only be to allow the corporate PR machine to attempt to make this a type of popularity 

contest. Many of us have been analyzing this threat for many many years. Six or eight years 

since the claims have been announced. The comment period is sufficient and the future of 

Bristol Bay salmon runs and all that they support should not be decided by PR driven popularity 

contest decision making. Thank you. 

[00:25:22.25] 

Anna Mae Bartholomew 

My name is Anna Mae Bartholomew. Many of you know my parents Mike and Mary (?). So 

anyway, I was born and raised in Dillingham, Bristol Bay. Our traditional knowledge is our 

salmon. For generations, we have put up roughly 5,000 pounds of salmon each and every year 

to provide for our families. In our traditional ways and traditional knowledge, we do not waste. 

We use nearly every inch of that salmon that we catch. We use the heads, the tails, the 

stomach linings and the eggs. From the meat from our salmon we freeze it, can it, smoke it, dry 

it, pickle it. Half smoke it, three day smoke it and then can it, we bake it, we dehydrate it, we salt 

it, we jerky it and we boil it. Our traditional ways also include the spawned out salmon. In our 

families and our traditional ways we call them (Yup'ik word), wand actually (this fish) is a 

delicacy. You can't wait for that time of the year to have that (fish). Where you have pork, 

chicken or beef, we replace it with salmon. Your pork, beef, chicken and other meats are your 

staple. Our traditional knowledge and way of life is salmon. When that goes away, and is 

wiped out, our traditional knowledge and ways are gone. We cannot replace that salmon. 

Please make sure to add this to your assessment. 
[00:27:11.05] 

Golda June Weiland 

My name is Golda Weiland. I am from Dillingham and I work for BBNA. I come from a rich 

heritage of native ancestors who moved to the BB region for the purpose of becoming 

commercial fisherman and live and practice the traditional life as we know it today. My heritage 

is rich in abundance with the knowledge to survive. It is rich in the economic opportunity that 

the salmon bring to our region each year. Our traditional way of life has been preserved for 

hundreds of years. The main law of the land is preservation. Preserve the berries, preserve the 

game, preserve and protect our salmon. We have a right to continue our subsistence way of life 

and a right to continue to make our living from salmon. It is also our duty to oppose any 

activities that will impose harm on any our traditions, people, animals and in this case salmon. 

That is why we need to act to protect BB. Fishing and living a subsistence way of life is not just 

a right for the people of Bristol Bay, fishing is a highly prized value. What is the traditional 

definition of value? To consider with respect to worth excellence, use or importance. In order to 

become fully internalized, values must be chosen freely from alternatives after careful 

consideration of the consequences of each alternative. A value is prized or cherished by the 

individual, who feels happy with the choice and is willing to publicly affirm the choice. The 

individual must act on the choice repeatedly in some form of way. So take a look around, nod 

your heads at each other, because we are standing together here today, voicing our values, 

voicing our opinions to prevent Pebble. Please take 404 action to protect Bristol Bay. 

[00:29:24.04] 

Thomas Gardiner IV 

My name is Thomas Gardiner. I like to say thank you for holding these meetings and let us talk. 

From traditional knowledge we keep our culture going. My subsistence life is with my family, 

which consists of four boys and my wife. I also help my grandmother, grandfather, mother, 

father and our other family members. I hold a Bristol Bay drift permit, my family fishes with me 

both commercially and subsistence. My family has been doing the same for generations and I 

hope we can keep passing it on. My family processes approximately 4,000 pounds of salmon, 

kings, reds, slivers, etc. We start when the fish first come into the river, all the way to the very 

end. My family and I smoke, dry and freeze the salmon. I brought you some canned salmon to 

share that we keep year round. If the salmon go away, my family would have to buy more food 

from the store. I would have less funds to buy food from the story if I cannot commercial fish for 
salmon. This would result for the first time my kids or grandkids could not have salmon as well 

as my ancestors. The fish keep us tied to the land. For all these reasons, the loss of salmon is 

unacceptable. Please consider 404(c) to protect Bristol Bay. We need to protect our way of life. 

Thanks. 

[00:31:24.08] 

Steve Scarbro 

This is something else isn't it? Thank you to the good folks at EPA for showing up and listening 

to us. Thank you to good citizens our good community and surrounding villages. As I stand 

before you today, I am both fearful and hopeful, for these are hard and troubled times to be 

sure. I'm reminded of a recent of a recent event, when a skiff full of people from (Platinum) to 

pick eggs and wound up in an ice flow, adrift for nearly a week before finally landing near Port 

Heiden, clear across Bristol Bay. To any average human, this probably would have been a life 

ending experience, but not these folks, no way. They accepted their situation with their usual 

humor and good cheer as part of the natural order of things. You see the native cultures of the 

north have conditioned themselves to not only thrive, but prosper in the face of hardship and 

adversity. How is that, you ask? I tell you. Long, long ago, these people realized that only a 

humble and respectful relationship with the landscape so ominous and unforgiving would be 

rewarded by a happy and healthy existence. In other words folks, this land and its associated 

cultures have flourished for the millennia because the indigenous people have adapted with and 

adapted to their environment as opposed to other cultures who adapt and change their 

environment to suit themselves. Alaska native drifting across the Bering Sea in an open skiff is 

as much at home as anyone of you sitting on your couches watching TV. Like Sergie said, this 

is all our backyards. Folks, what is truly at stake here today, is the permanent destruction and 

the very existence of the only wild and pristine lands and related culture of its' kind, anywhere 

on planet earth. Only one of its kind. A working living breathing entity, wholly into itself, 

perfected by God. Many years ago, a wise old man once said to me, if that gold were meant to 

be had, it wouldn't be buried where it is. Thank about those words for a minute people. I think 

what that old time means to say is that those mineral deposits are there for a reason. At the 

very least, it is an integral part of a vast and rich ecosystem, such as the birds and bees and 

flowers and trees, etc. Perhaps, even the very source or nectar that feeds and nourishes this 

very region couldn't that be a hoot if modern science figured that out. If so, those minerals 

should be preserved in perpetuity and protected as is, not mined. I for one choose to believe 

that old man, I choose to believe people who have known all along, because there is a lot we 
don't know, a lot we are not meant to know, and a lot we will never know. But ladies and 

gentlemen, please know this with all certainty: do not fool with Mother Nature. Listen to what 

these people are telling you. Please do not let the permitting process continue. You can stop 

this insanity right now. You have the authority, you say so yourselves. I believe you also have 

the moral obligation to do what is right by the people and the land. Please do so before it is too 

late. Thank you. 

[00:36:51.20] 

Andria Agli 

My name is Andria Agli. I grew up in the village of South Naknek, which is just downriver from 

here. However, my family has hunted up and down the Kvichak River and around Lake Iliamna 

for generations. I'd like to thank EPA for holding these meetings and hearing from the people 

who live and hunt and fish on the river systems that will be impacted most. I've heard the 

statements from the state of Alaska and the other supporters of the large scale mining, that the 

Bristol Bay watershed assessment was rushed and that the study was too premature. We 

support the science of this document as it in turn supports what the elders of this area and their 

traditional knowledge have said all along. Please protect our land and protect our fish and 

protect our game. I've also heard the statements and the comments that the comment period is 

too short. I believe the attendance and the statements at these meetings by the local people 

and the fisherman shows their commitment and understanding of the severity of this issue. You 

were right that this is a busy time of the year. We are preparing our boats, we are mending our 

nets, we are cleaning our smokehouses and we are sharpening our knives. However, by 

testifying at these meetings and missing out on one day or maybe several days of preparation 

for those who attend multiple meetings here in the region, we hope that this will prevent, with 

the help of the EPA, missing out on a lifetime of salmon and missing out on a way of life that we 

have treasured for thousands of years. Please show your commitment by keeping the current 

public comment timeline, and the schedule that you have posted here. Take a quick 404(c) 

action to protect the waters of BB. Thank you to the village of Levelock for your hospitality and 

thank you EPA for coming out to the region. 

 
[00:39:19.09] 

Robin Samuelson 

Thank you for showing up in Levelock today, EPA. I wish you could make it to more villages. 

But we realize the time crunch you guys are under. The people of Levelock have been here 

before, a lot of them are my friends, they really appreciate you coming out and hearing their 

concerns. For the record, my name is Robin Samuelson. I don't know who the hell I am today. 

I listed commercial fisherman and a subsistence user. I sit on the board of the BBEDC. I sit on 

the board of the BBNC; I've worked for these people all of my life. We don't want a foreign 

company coming in and destroying our land. There are 67 permits that are going to be issued 

for this mine. 66 of them would be from the state of Alaska and one from EPA. Them 66 

permits, we think the state is going to sign off. Let me bring to back to when we elected 

Governor Frank Murkowski as governor of Alaska. He said he was going to revamp the process 

on permitting into a rampant acceleration and create economies. He did away with our coastal 

zone management. We had our lands protected! Under our old policies, there never would be 

a Pebble Mine going in near Iliamna. Frank and his henchmen threw that out, they wouldn't 

listen to us. Frank and his henchmen got the US Fish and Wildlife Service to come into Bristol 

Bay and all of Alaska because the state of Alaska said that people couldn't have subsistence. 

They violated a federal law called ANILCA, so we brought in USFWS. The history against the 

native people in rural Alaska in the last 20 years is been unbelievable what these guys are 

getting away with. It is the same henchmen that you guys heard from in Anchorage the other 

day, saying go out to Bristol Bay and put in that mine that is going to destroy the water. If that 

mine goes through, you might as well fly over Levelock and drop a bomb. These people are not 

going to survive. Today they will not survive. They will not afford food from the store. They eat 

from the land and they eat from the water. We eat millions of dollars worth of subsistence 

foods. Go to Ekwok and drop another bomb and take 20 more and drop them in Dillingham and 

the other villages because that is what is what you would let it do. The Pebble Mine is the 

Germans to the Jews in 1942, there is no question. This is our land; this isn't some (Yup'ik 

word) land. This is our land. Our elders and our forefathers grew up on it. I see know that 

Pebble and the Attorney General want to extend the comment period. Your comment period is 

great. You are hitting the villages before fishing season. What they want to do is delay tactic, 

delay tactic, delay tactic, so they can wait until the next administration, hoping that Romney is 

elected and that Romney can put in the mine. The economy out here. I am also the President 

of BBEDC. I represent this community along with 17 other communities. It is one of the biggest 

fish processors in the state of Alaska. On the average, we do 160 million pounds of fish a year. 
If you do that, you might as well shut down our plant in Naknek. I've talked to our buyers and if 

the mine goes through and pollutes the water in front of Levelock, and that water goes down to 

the Kvichak and taints the fish, our market are done. Again, bring the bombs and drop them on 

us. We have nothing to live for without our land and water. Frank Murkowski and his boys set 

this up. This is a foreign company, a foreign company that wants to come to our homeland and 

destroy it. Don't let it happen. These people and the other people in Bristol Bay.... BBNC did a 

study and 81% of the people said no, they said hell no. We didn't poll one white man. If we had 

polled the white man, we’d have about 90 to 95% standing behind saying No Mine No Mine. 

Our people here, the non-native people here who don't want that mine, it should be alright. We 

don’t go to NY and tell them we are going to build a big pit in downtown square. We didn’t go to 

San Francisco. Don't let this foreign mine come in and create genocide on the native people 

here. Thank you. 

[00:44:50.04] 

John Anderson 

My name is John Anderson and I want to thank you for coming today and giving us the 

opportunity to speak. What I am hearing wherever I go, and I've been to all these villages - I'm 

lucky - I've been on all these river systems from Egigik to Good News, I've hunted Iliamna Lake 

to the Mulchatna, the Nushagak the Kvichak. What I am hearing is fear. Robin touched on it. A 

dam up there with all of that waste would be just like a time bomb. Almost like having a bomb 

on the plane, it's just a matter of time until there is an earthquake. They are terrorizing 

everyone here. They are scaring us, because they are trying to take away our lifestyle. 

Everyone mentioned salmon, but it goes a lot further than salmon. Thank you. 

[00:46:26.14] 

Daniel Cheyette 

Good afternoon. My name is Daniel Cheyette and I work for BBNC. Thank you EPA for 

travelling out to our region and taking the comments and hearing the concerns of our residents 

and thank you to the community of Levelock for hosting this meeting and allowing me to 

participate. I've lived in Alaska for 16 years, but I grew up on the outside. Like you, I grew up 

with a sense of my home town. It was a sense of community, but not a sense of place. As you 

likely are learning on this trip. Bristol Bay is much different. Everyone who lives here has a 

deep and strong sense of place. There is a powerful connection to the lands and waters and 
the resources of BB. It is a connection that starts before birth. It is genetic. It is handed down 

through the generations and it is also learned from a very young age. A connection told in 

stories from parents and elders and experienced first hand. Toddlers accompany parents and 

grandparents fishing, hunting, berry picking. They participate at home to store that food and 

save it. It is part of the family experience for anyone who grows up in Bristol Bay, and as a 

result, this land its water and its resources become a part of who you are. This is a connection 

without a price tag and it cannot be replaced. If it is lost, it is lost forever. That is why everyone 

you have heard is so passionate. It is also why we are grateful for the watershed assessment. 

The assessment encapsulates in scientific terms, what everyone here knows in their hearts and 

their DNA - that this is a unique and special place that cannot be risked. I want to address the 

watershed assessment timeline. The 60-days for review and comment are more than sufficient. 

The watershed assessment is not an action document, it is a planning document. More 

important, it focuses on a single activity, the impact of large scale mining. The public 

documents at both the state and federal levels have comparable time periods of 60-70 days. 

For example, the BB area plan, the state planning document for this entire region, not just a 

watershed, but focused on all watershed uses, not just one - and that dictates all future actions 

on state lands, not just describing potential impacts, had a 75 day comment period. The simple 

truth is that anyone who tells you that 60-days is not enough are simply advocating for delay. 

EPA should not accept that. It should stay the course and finalize the assessment on the 

current timeline. As you have heard here and elsewhere, the people of Bristol Bay have had the 

specter of large scale mining development handing over them for many years. Letting the 

process stall and delay longer than 60-day for public comment is not only unwarranted, it is 

unconscionable. The people of BB and the shareholders of BBNC ask you to finalize the 

assessment on schedule. Thank you. 

[00:50:20.05] 

Kendall Barbery 

First of all I want to say thank you very much. I don't know many of you here and the people I 

know, I have just recently met, so I appreciate your hospitality and welcoming me into your 

community and sharing your foods. My name is Kendall Barbery. I grew up in SE Virginia, but 

I've lived in Egegik for the past eight years as a seasonal fisher since 2006. I am a Masters 

Student at the Yale school of forestry and environmental studies. I am dedicating a lot of my 

time there to the development of the Pebble Mine. As a side note, in Connecticut there are no 

wild salmon. I'd like to suggest a possible improvement to the EPA watershed assessment 
regarding the reservoir and mine induced seismicity. I'm appreciative of the efforts of the EPA 

and giving some credence to the risk of induced seismicity in the assessment, I believe on page 

4-38, yet I'm a little disappointed to find that it warranted only one paragraph and a single 

citation from a 1976 study. Additional and more current data is available that addresses the link 

between mining, tailings activity and seismic activity. Mining, mine pit dewatering and eventual 

refilling of the mine pit, as well as tailings storage, may increase pore pressure beneath the site 

and lubrication, tectonic stress and fault slip in a mine site. Even at low magnitudes, current 

triggered earthquake could lead to increased liquefaction, tailings pond failure and chronic 

contamination of the Bristol Bay watershed. The size of the proposed operations at the Pebble 

Mine site, along with the potential development of other adjacent mineral deposits could 

significantly impact the water balance across the landscape and have serious implications for 

the tectonic stability of the proposed mine and the surrounding region. Although the Lake Clark 

fault is considered inactive, a 2002 study which I can provide you with citations, suggests that 

triggered earthquakes are just as likely in stable as in active tectonic settings. Induced 

seismicity may increase the probability of tailings impoundment failure, and that is something 

that we cannot risk here in BB. For that reason, I think it warrants further study by the EPA. 

Risks must be thoroughly addressed to protect BB resources and its vibrant communities. 

Thank you. 

[00:53:17.04] 

Greg Andrew, Jr. 

A lot of good testimony here. Hello, my name is Greg Andrew, Jr. I am originally from 

Kokhanok, AK, from Lake Iliamna. My dad and grandparents were from the Lake Iliamna area, 

and my mother is from Aniak? on the Kuskokwim River. I am the administrator for the Levelock 

village council. I have five children and five grandchildren. I would like to thank the EPA for 

taking the time to do the assessment on the Kvichak and Nushagak River drainages - drainages 

that produce at least half of the world's supply of salmon. I like what I see in the assessment 

about how important the supply of fish and wildlife and the land are to the natives of the area, 

who depend on it for their subsistence lifestyle that we so choose to live. I would also like to 

thank BBNC and the Levelock village corporation - not afraid to stand up and voice for what is 

right for the majority of the members who oppose the mine. Which other corporations should 

have done. I'd also like to thank Nunamta and Trout Unlimited for their part in trying to keep the 

BB watershed and lands pristine and intact. We had Pebble here in Levelock explaining their 

studies of the area at and near the proposed Pebble site. When asked if they were doing any 
water quality testing on the Kvichak River, they said yes, they were, but actually the site that 

they are testing is in the Kaskanak Creek - water that drains into the Kvichak. It is common 

sense that if the waters upriver are contaminated, then the water downriver will be contaminated 

as well, and the Kvichak is the only Lake Illimani drainage. I keep hearing how poor and 

economically depressed we are in this area and how we need the Pebble mine for jobs. I do not 

believe that we are poor, I believe that we are rich and we are blessed with plenty of fish and 

wildlife to enable us to live on an in the Nushagak and Kvichak, Lake Iliamna, Bristol Bay area. 

The fish, wildlife and land that we may not have if the Pebble Mine is allowed to operate. I see 

in the assessment that the EPA finds that the damage will be done even if the mine worked 

perfectly. This is unacceptable and it is something that we knew before the draft assessment 

came out, and it is why we fight to keep our ways, our waters and land in the perfect condition 

that they are today and that they will be for years into the future, hopefully. The Pebble Mine 

would be a short term economic gain for only a handful of people, most of whom are not from 

the country, at the expense of long-term stability for the local people who will be affected by the 

mines impact. They talk of seeing the mine go through to give people in the region jobs. But if 

the mine were to go through and the area is devastated, due to an accident or something, then 

what reason is there for anyone to stay in the BB area? Without life sustaining fish and wildlife 

for subsistence and commercial use that we depend on and enjoy today and hopefully for 

generations to come. Once again I would like to thank EPA for doing the assessment and I 

would like to urge EPA to take the right step. I think July 23 is an adequate time, and I the 

404(c) action to protect the livelihood, well being and existence and the way of life we enjoy 

today. 

[00:57:11.13] 

Janice Chukwak 

My name is Janice Chukwak. Thank you EPA for coming here to hear my plea for help in 

fighting against the Pebble Mine. You have heard of the beauty and the uniqueness of our 

heritage, culture and subsistence lifestyles. All life on earth depends on clean, drinkable water. 

The waters of the Kvichak and Nushagak Rivers are the cleanest, purest, sweetest water that 

our salmon come back to each and every year. Other species of fish live in the river year round. 

We know that the salmon come up our rivers to spawn. We depend upon them for food during 

our long cold winters. We can predict each year the salmon’s return, but Pebble cannot predict 

the magnitude of a natural disaster or if and when it will strike. I have heard how they tell us 

that the mine and the salmon can coexist, but I have not heard from them is a plan about how 
they can take care of the pollution that is a threat to our waters and streams. No emergency 

preparedness plan to take care of the villages of Igiugig and Levelock on the Kvichak, and 

Koliganek, New Stuyahok, Ekwok and Portage Creek on the Nushagak. All I see are them 

offering villages money to buy our trust. No plan for earthquake, no plan for flooding or overflow 

of the tailings pit. For me that means no plan for my future subsistence. For centuries, my 

people have lived off the land, not taking any more than what was needed to survive the winter. 

I know what is expected of me when the fish arrives and when the berries are ripe I know what I 

need to do. What I don't know is what will be my life and culture after Pebble. I've asked myself 

this question many times, trying to see a future, but I come up with a blank picture. What will 

happen to my native culture? Not knowing what will happen to my kids and grandkids frightens 

me. Will my new subsistence way of life be gone, will it be taking my grandsons to the store to 

buy the salmon and other stuff. Is all my hard work will be lost and just memories that will be 

passed on to them? For them to imagine for them to know what it was like before Pebble and 

the pollution that it may cause. Please, I asked you to intercede on my behalf and preserve our 

subsistence way of life and continue to keep our water pure and clean so that we continue for 

generations to come. I speak proudly today for my family as I have four generations here with 

me at this meeting. My Mom Olga, my daughter Jenae and my grandson Brayson. Please 

allow me to become the grandmother that my gram was and that my mom is. To allow me to 

teach my grandsons Colby and Brayson my way of life. Thank you. 

[01:01:04.11] 

Hans Apokedak 

Hi. My name is Hans Apokedak a have been here in Bristol Bay for 40 years. I am a fourth 

generation commercial fisherman, but a people of the fish for thousands of years. I am against 

the mine because it threatens my way of life. I am a subsistence user. I can go catch fish 

without hardly any cost versus going to the store where it is 20-some bucks a pound. I could 

not afford to go to the store then. I was hoping that this mine wouldn't go in for the future 

generations. For my daughters and hopefully grandchildren in the future. This fish that we eat 

and love every year that swims up the river - that is our gold. As far as copper or whatever 

versus food, I will choose food any day over something that we don't need or depend on like our 

subsistence. You hear now reports of tuna that are getting radiation or whatever, and I believe 

that one day in the future, the world will look to Bristol Bay as a solid food that is fresh that is not 

contaminated. If you bring in the mine, it will bring the fish prices down probably get 

contaminated. This whole BB region everything and anything depends on fish, from the 
smallest living organism to us human beings. If the fish go away then this whole place will go. 

Animals and everything from this area depends on it. This Pebble Mine is a threat here. I can't 

describe how bad it would be and this would be the future. There might not be a major spill 

today, but tomorrow there might be. No amount of money or "oops, I'm sorry" will make it 

better, because you can’t bring back the fish. It takes years for Mother Nature to bring 

something back. With the world and everything that is going to crap and getting contaminated, 

one day we are going to need this fish. We don't need copper to survive. I don't have a 

computer or e-mail because I don't need it. I am outdoors because I love it there. It is fun and I 

want my family and future generations in thousands of years to come enjoy what I have 

enjoyed. In the future we need to protect this. Like what they do in those parks in the lower 48. 

You have to bring your poop out, that is how drastic they are. So the fishing thing here, it 

shouldn't be a discussion on what is good or bad. It is the way of life and how people are and 

how dare they come in and think they are going to help us. I'm all for change, but that kind of 

change is unheard of. It is our backyards. If you are hearing about unemployment and how 

there aren't jobs, then you must be talking to those people who are unemployed. It is not hard 

to get a job if you apply yourself and you work. I choose to live here because I love it here, I 

grew up here. I had a chance to go to Wisconsin once, but I said no, I have to go up the river. I 

love it here. I choose to live here. The choice is - I don't want to be forced to do anything I don't 

want and you guys don't want to be forced to, it is our way of life. As I see it, you are our last 

line of defense on this subject. The state has only been around for 50 years or so and we have 

been here for thousands of years. You need to listen to the people and that is what I have to 

say. Thank you for listening 

[01:06:18.28] 

Alexander Tallekpallek 

To the Environmental Protection Agency. My name is Alexander Tallekpallek, and I work for 

Levelock Electric Corporation. I also contribute my time as a planning commissioner for the 

Lake and Peninsula Borough. I am on the native corporation board here in Levelock. I recently 

adopted four of my sister’s kids. I am a strong believer of our heritage in Levelock on the 

Kvichak River. This is my place and subsistence home. I would like to thank EPA for travelling 

to the area and gathering the truth. For our land, our strength, our way of life and our 

subsistence lifestyle. Today I feel confident about my village and my subsistence way of life 

and I serve the people to the best of my knowledge. I am a commercial fisherman and I depend 

on seasonal earnings to prepare for fall and winter months, which helps my family of nine a 
whole bunch. I am an optimistic person about life and my family's future. I do not see a mine 

like Pebble Mine passing along, since it does not benefit my family or my native way of life, 

cultures and keeping our land natural. In the watershed assessment, I read in your report about 

fish; where they go and where they spawn and how close it would be to the mine. I was 

surprised how many creeks and how many spawning areas would be destroyed if the mine goes 

through. I am even more surprised that the mine needs a power source of 500 megawatts to 

run the mine. That is enough power to provide electricity to a city of such as anchorage Alaska. 

There is one thing to me that is unacceptable. It stands out nationwide. Contaminating the 

salmon forever. Allowing the chance will destroy our culture, not now, but for the people 10, 20 

or 50 years from now. Our future will only read on how our way of life had been before a mine 

developed. Our culture is fading fast enough without the mine. I have a huge concern about 

losing family heritage not only ours, but Alaskan cultures as well. With this mine being a threat 

here in BB, it would mean that the mining industry has no remorse on any place here in Alaska. 

There are other places that can be mined before the mining industry destroys our land. I would 

like to ask EPA with great concern to take action under section 404(c) of the clean water act. 

We need to continue to provide our nation with the best salmon in the world for our people. I 

am helping people here in BB because this is my home and my culture and I want to pass this 

world knowing that our salmon will provide the best food in the world and it is here in Bristol Bay 

in the lakes, rivers and streams surrounding the proposed mine. Again to the EPA I thank you 

for hearing my testimony and I thank you for taking the time to provide the vital information on 

our streams, rivers, lakes and lands up there in the mining area. The Pebble Mine will damage 

our lifestyle and they will contaminate our fish. This is potential damage that can have an effect 

on our way of life forever. Please take my message to our Senator Lisa Murkowski, as I am a 

concerned Alaskan native. 

[01:11:01.00] 

Gary Cline 

My name is Gary Cline. I'm also known as "Yupik name" which means little box. I was named 

after a respected elder from the village of Koliganek. Many people have been speaking about 

looking after the future generations. To take only what you need. I was fortunate to come from 

a family that taught me the traditional knowledge of ecology. Not only to live in respect and 

harmony with the environment, but we did that because our people believed in "Yupik word" 

which means from up above. The person or universe or spirit that lives within the universe, but 

also lives within Mother Nature. We felt that within our dead animals or plants that they were 
always among us. Living through our spirit and with their spirit and if you were to misuse or 

mistreat that animal or plant their kind would not allow their spirit to return to earth to be born 

again or return to your family to allow it to be harvested the next year. So that is why we always 

have taught to respect animals, and why we "Yupik word" to clean the rest of the meat of the 

bone to show our respect to the animal who gave itself to our family. Like I said, I am fortunate 

to have elders who taught me these ways. I want to be able to pass this on to my nephews and 

cousins. So after looking through some of your assessment and noting that 30% of the salmon 

might be destroyed from the Koktuli River off the Mulchatna - that is unacceptable in my mind. 

Like forget who said it earlier. It is the first fish we go after. People have nets out in Dillingham 

who are waiting for their first kings. Also, it's a 10-20% that may be lost from the Mulchatna. 

That doesn't even include the Stuyahok River and another river up the Mulchatna. So the 

potential of losing up to 50% of our sockeye or Chinooks. That is unacceptable, considering 

that only two years ago only 36,000 went up there. We had to shut down our king fishery and I 

am giving a sigh of relief that 60,000 made it up last year. A mine puts more stress on this 

vulnerable population and is unacceptable. I want to pass on the traditions that my 

grandparents taught me. Please initiate the 404(c) and I request that you do not extend the 

comment period. As fisherman, we will have downtime where we can read and go through the 

report thoroughly. I want to read the next two sections. I've only seen the first one. I really 

appreciate the work you do. To me I don't understand why this is a discussion. This is why we 

created the EPA and the clean water act. We have such a source of fresh water throughout the 

world, why jeopardize the best sockeye salmon run on the planet. It is a no brainer. Thank you. 

[01:16:05.26] 

Gustie Tallekpallek 

My name is Gustie Tallekpallek, I'm a long time resident. I'm not speaking for myself. I'm 

speaking for people who can't speak for themselves. This is proof that we need clean water for 

the baby bottle. I'm sure you have grandchildren also. You need clean water for their baby 

bottles. You let the Pebble Mine come in and contaminate the water and kill the fish, you think 

about their future the kids here. You kill the fish, you hurt our babies. This is very precious 

here. We need our future to continue and to keep the water clean and safe. See he is crying 

for clean water. I speak for people who can't speak for themselves. I love clean water. I bathe, 

eat drink out of it. That is all I have. Thank you. 

END 
************ 

Note: This is not a certified transcript. This record of oral comments was transcribed by Judy 

Smith, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator from audio recordings taken at the EPA public 

meeting held in Levelock, Alaska beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 6, 2012. Every 

effort was made to transcribe the testimony accurately, but there may be errors or omissions 

because of background noise during the meeting or the sound quality of the recording.