VANCOUVER, Sept. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Northern Dynasty
Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the
"Company") reports that its 100%-owned US-based Pebble Limited
Partnership ("Pebble Partnership" or "PLP"), owner of southwest
Alaska's Pebble Project, has
capped its legal fee exposure to conclude litigation with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") under the Federal
Advisory Committee Act ("FACA").
In September 2014, the Pebble
Partnership initiated legal action in federal district court in
Alaska charging that EPA violated
FACA due to its close interactions with, and the undue influence
of, anti-mining activists in developing the Bristol Bay Watershed
Assessment ("BBWA") study and with respect to its unprecedented
pre-emptive 404c regulatory action under the Clean Water
Act. In November 2014, a US
federal court judge granted the Pebble Partnership's request for a
preliminary injunction in the case, forbidding EPA from taking any
further steps to finalize its CWA 404c veto of the Pebble Project,
and signalling that PLP has a reasonable likelihood of prevailing
on the merits of its case.
Should PLP prevail in its FACA litigation, Northern Dynasty
expects that EPA would be unable to proceed with any proposed veto
of the Pebble Project that relies upon the BBWA as an
administrative record.
"The significance of today's announcement is we now have
certainty that Northern Dynasty will have the financial and
professional resources necessary to pursue its legal case against
EPA to a final conclusion," said Ron
Thiessen, President and CEO.
"While it's never possible to guarantee legal outcomes, we have
long held that the evidentiary basis for us to prevail in our
litigation against EPA is well established. From the tens of
thousands of pages of communication, memos and reports obtained
under discovery and the Freedom of Information Act, and from
the deposition of key government employees, it's now clear that
EPA's frequent, intensive and ongoing engagement with ENGOs and
anti-mining activists in planning and executing its BBWA study and
CWA 404(c) strategy occurred in violation of federal laws intended
to provide for open, honest and transparent decision-making."
In addition to running afoul of FACA, Thiessen said evidence
compiled for the lawsuit makes it clear that EPA had determined to
veto the Pebble Project before undertaking any scientific inquiry,
and developed the BBWA solely for the purpose of justifying its
pre-determined position.
"We have every confidence these facts will be validated at
trial, and EPA's ability to use a severely flawed BBWA report to
justify its pre-emptive regulatory action at Pebble will be
stayed," Thiessen said
Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Partnership are represented by
respected international law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP
("Steptoe"), which for more than seven decades has been
acknowledged as a leader in litigation and advocacy in Washington DC. Steptoe and PLP have agreed to
cap legal fees related to the FACA suit and other ongoing legal
matters at US $1 million to the point
at which motions for summary judgment in the case have been fully
argued to the court and are ripe for adjudication, expected to be
January 2017.
Based on an agreement reached by the parties in August 2016, as well as previous agreements,
Steptoe will be due a success fee payment upon prevailing in the
FACA litigation or arising from other positive outcomes. Thiessen
said the firm's willingness to cap its legal fees at $1 million reflects its confidence in Pebble's
FACA case.
Notwithstanding the new fee arrangement, PLP remains interested
in a resolution to its impasse with EPA that forestalls
litigation.
"Either way, we have every confidence that we will prevail and
Pebble will ultimately move forward to initiate the Environmental
Impact Statement ("EIS") process under the Clean Water Act
and National Environmental Policy Act unencumbered by any
extraordinary development restrictions as proposed by EPA," he
said.
About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development
company based in Vancouver,
Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset is the Pebble
Project in southwest Alaska, USA,
an initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral
resources.
Ronald W. Thiessen
President & CEO
Forward Looking Information and other
Cautionary Factors
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed
"forward looking statements". All statements in this release,
other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration
drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that
the Company expects are forward looking statements. Although the
Company believes the expectations expressed in its forward looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements
should not be in any way construed as guarantees of the ultimate
size, quality or commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project or of
the Company's future performance or the outcome of litigation.
Assumptions used by the Company to develop forward looking
statements include the following: the Pebble Project will obtain
all required environmental and other permits and all land use and
other licenses, studies and development of the Pebble Project will
continue to be positive, and no geological or technical problems
will occur. The likelihood of future mining at the Pebble Project
is subject to a large number of risks and will require achievement
of a number of technical, economic and legal objectives, including
obtaining necessary mining and construction permits, approvals,
licenses and title on a timely basis and delays due to third party
opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and
natural resource exploration and exploitation, the final outcome of
any litigation, completion of prefeasibility and final feasibility
studies, preparation of all necessary engineering for surface or
underground mining and processing facilities as well as receipt of
significant additional financing to fund these objectives as well
as funding mine construction. Such funding may not be available to
the Company on acceptable terms or on any terms at all. There is no
known ore at the Pebble Project and there is no assurance that the
mineralization at the Pebble Project will ever be classified as
ore. The need for compliance with extensive environmental and
socioeconomic rules and practices and the requirement for the
Company to obtain government permitting can cause a delay or even
abandonment of a mineral project. The Company is also subject to
the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as
general economic and business conditions. For more information on
the Company, Investors should review the Company's filings with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its home
jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.