On Friday, the EPA released an updated version of its Bristol Bay watershed assessment and initiated a public comment period extending until May 31, 2013. The purpose of the assessment is to evaluate the potential impacts of hard rock mining, such as that proposed by foreign mining companies Northern Dynasty and Anglo American, to the environment and economy of the Bristol Bay region of Alaska. In order to assure that it is "using the best available science and that [it has] heard and considered all comments", the EPA is giving anyone with an opinion to express an opportunity to make their voice heard.

The EPA's assessment notes that even without any failures in the operational safety measures in place at the proposed mines, the construction of these mines and their related facilities will lead to extensive habitat loss. The prospects of a failure at any of the on or off site facilities that will store and transport mining products or the more than 10 billion pounds of expected toxic mining waste are much more grim. The assessment not only addresses the sensitivity of the aquatic and terrestrial habitat in which the Pebble Mine and other operations are proposed, but notes that opportunities for mitigation and remediation of any spills, leaks or other failures would be virtually non-existent.

The difficulty of attempting to undo over a century of human habitat modification is becoming increasingly clear. Complications continue to mount as the dam removal and habitat restoration project, which began last September, attempts to move forward on Washington's Elwha River. According to a report in northwest Washington's Peninsula Daily News, hundreds of dead chinook salmon smolts were found on the river's lower banks after last week's release of almost 200,000 juvenile fish from a hatchery several miles upstream.

According to a biologist that examined many of the dead fish, most of the fish had their gills clogged by sediment from the river, which resulted in the fish suffocating due to an inability to take up oxygen. Staff from the hatchery confirmed that they believed the dead fish were released from the hatchery. Biologists have since called the hatchery release a mistake and stated that they felt the survival rates of the recently released salmon would be "very low". With 900,000 more chinook due to be released by June, hatchery and Fish and Wildlife staff are exploring alternative release methods and sites to avoid a similar result.

The existence and timing of hatchery operations on the Elwha have been a subject of controversy since the inception of the removal project.