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The Keystone Center Dialogue on The Proposed Pebble Mine, Alaska

View an Overview Slide Presentation.

Background

In November 2007, The Keystone Center was approached by the UK- and US-based consulting firm Sustainable Finance on behalf of the Pebble Partnership to determine whether Keystone was interested in and capable of undertaking an independent stakeholder assessment and dialogue feasibility study focused on the proposed Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska. (Read The Keystone Center's Statement of Independence).
 
During its stakeholder assessment process, The Keystone Center conducted interviews and conversations with approximately 90 individuals in southwest Alaska between February and May 2008. Through this process, Keystone identified key areas of environmental, social, and economic concern associated with the proposed Pebble Mine as well as a continuum of stakeholder attitudes towards the mine and the need for continued dialogue.  Keystone summarized its findings as well as its initial recommendations for a multi-stage dialogue process in its draft report: Stakeholder Assessment and Dialogue Feasibility Study for the Proposed Pebble Project (Draft Report, September 2008).
 
 
Dialogue Process
 
The Keystone Center recommends a 4-stage Dialogue Process to help stakeholders make better informed decisions about the important choices before them.  The process includes:  
  1. Independent Science Advisory Committee to help guide the project.
  2.  Independent Science Panel (ISPs) to help stakeholders assess the credibility and sufficiency of baseline environmental and socioeconomic studies and understand the meaning of this scientific information in the context of a proposed mine. Independent Science Panels will review information in the following topic areas: geology and geochemistry; hydrology and hydrogeology; fish, wildlife, and vegetation; social and economic dynamics; responsible large-scale mining; and risk assessment.
  3. Joint Fact-Finding (JFF) process to address valid scientific questions identified in the Independent Science Panels.
  4.  Project Planning Collaborative to engage stakeholder representatives, to the extent possible, in the development of a realistic mining scenario that can be fully evaluated by stakeholders.

The Keystone Dialogue process will kick off in late 2010/early 2011.

Science Advisory Committee

A Science Advisory Committee (SAC) has been convened to guide the ISP and JFF processes. The principal role of the SAC is to help Keystone select independent science panelists and to plan and oversee the panel process. The SAC is comprised of five recognized experts from the disciplines of geochemistry, fisheries, socioeconomics, subsistence, and responsible mining.  View Science Advisory Committee Member Biographies.
 
Selection of SAC members and independent science panelists follows National Research Council policies and procedures to assure that science panels are adequately balanced and fair and that potential conflicts of interest are avoided.
 
 
Contact Information
 
For additional information on this process, please contact Todd Bryan, Ph.D., senior associate at The Keystone Center.
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