Alaska’s Bristol Bay supports the largest wild sockeye salmon fishery in the world, providing billions of dollars for the local economy and thousands of fishing jobs. The proposed Pebble mine, slated to be constructed near Bristol Bay headwaters, would put the entire salmon ecosystem and economy at risk. The EPA called potential damage and waste from the proposed mine “unprecedented” in scale and disruptive to the local environment. Even so, Sullivan defended the Pebble Mine’s permitting process as Attorney General and opposed the EPA’s potential veto of the project as Senator. In secretly-recorded conversations leaked to the public, Pebble’s executives claimed they had influence over Sullivan, who had personal and professional connections to the Pebble Partnership. After a legal fallout, Sullivan attempted to distance himself from Pebble and pledged to redirect their donations—which he never did.
The Pebble Deposit Contained Billions Of Pounds Of Copper And Millions Of Ounces Of Gold And Silver. According to Law360 Legal News, “The Bristol Bay area is home to the largest sockeye salmon run in the world and large fisheries, and is also the world's largest known undeveloped copper resource. The Pebble deposit is located roughly 200 miles southwest of Anchorage and accessible only by helicopter or snowmobile. According to the state's suit, the deposit contains an estimated 57 billion pounds of copper and other minerals, including 71 million ounces of gold, 3.4 billion pounds of molybdenum, 345 million ounces of silver and 2.6 million kilograms of rhenium.” [Law360 Legal News, 4/15/26]
The Pebble Mine Was Slated To Be Constructed Near Bristol Bay Salmon Fishery Headwaters, Potentially Risking Damage To The Fishery. According to Anchorage Daily News, “The proposed copper and gold mine would be built 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, near headwaters of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery. Critics say the mine, if built, will endanger the fishery. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is weighing a key construction permit for the project.” [Anchorage Daily News, 9/23/20]
The Bristol Bay Watershed Supported The Largest Wild Sockeye Salmon Fishery In The World. According to the EPA, “The Bristol Bay watershed supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world, with approximately 46% of the average global abundance of wild sockeye salmon. Between 1990 and 2010, the annual average inshore run of sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay was approximately 37.5 million fish. Annual commercial harvest of sockeye over this same period averaged 27.5 million. Approximately half of the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon production is from the Nushagak River and Kvichak River watersheds.” [EPA, Accessed 4/27/26]
The EPA Determined That Mining The Pebble Deposit Would Result In Damage Of “Unprecedented” Magnitude To The Bristol Bay Region. According to the EPA, “ Based on scientific analysis, EPA Region 10 proposes to restrict all discharge of dredged or fill material related to mining the Pebble deposit that would result in any or all of the following: Loss of streams: The loss of five or more miles of streams with documented salmon occurrence (coho, Chinook, sockeye, chum, pink); or the loss of 19 or more miles of streams where salmon are not documented, but that are tributaries of streams with documented salmon occurrence. Loss of wetlands, lakes, and ponds: The loss of 1,100 or more acres of wetlands, lakes, and ponds that connect with streams with documented salmon occurrence or tributaries of those streams. Streamflow alterations: Streamflow alterations greater than 20 percent of daily flow in nine or more linear miles of streams with documented salmon occurrence. According to EPA analyses, losses of the nature and magnitude listed above would be unprecedented for the Clean Water Act Section 404 regulatory program in the Bristol Bay region, as well as the rest of Alaska and perhaps the nation.” [EPA, 7/18/14]
Mining The Pebble Deposit Was Estimated To Result In Total Waste Volume Amounting to 3,900 Football Stadiums. According to the EPA, “Based on information provided by Northern Dynasty Minerals to investors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, mining the Pebble deposit is likely to result in: Mine waste that would fill a major football stadium up to 3,900 times. This includes mine tailings and waste rock. Massive mine tailings impoundments that would cover approximately 19 square miles and waste rock piles that would cover nearly nine square miles in an area with productive streams, wetlands, lakes and ponds important for salmon.” [EPA, 7/18/14]
As Attorney General, Sullivan Defended The State’s Decision To Issue Permits For Pebble’s Exploration Work. According to AlaskaFish.news, “Sullivan has a long relationship of advocacy for the mining project since he was selected in 2009 as Attorney General by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. As Attorney General, Sullivan defended Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources and the Pebble Partnership in a lawsuit that challenged the state’s process for issuing permits to the Pebble Limited Partnership.” [AlaskaFish.news, 4/13/26]
2015: The Alaska Supreme Court Overruled The Superior Court Decision That Had Favored Sullivan’s Defense Of Pebble. According to Anchorage Daily News, “In two unanimous decisions, the Alaska Supreme Court on Friday came down solidly on the side of a group fighting the proposed Pebble mine, backing efforts by two Alaska icons, former first lady Bella Hammond and state constitutional convention delegate Vic Fischer, to give the public a voice in mineral exploration. In one case overturning a 2011 Superior Court decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the state Department of Natural Resources violated the Alaska Constitution by allowing deep drilling, dynamite blasting, pumping of stream water and other work that disposed of a public resource without any public notice or finding that it was for the common good. […] Anchorage Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth had ruled in September 2011 for the state and Pebble. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan was newly installed as attorney general when the case was filed and continued in that role until just before it went to trial in December 2010.” [Anchorage Daily News, 5/29/15]
2022: Sullivan Opposed The EPA’s Veto Of The Pebble Mine Despite Also Claiming To Oppose The Mine Itself. According to Politico’s E&E News, “Alaska’s two Republican senators came out against EPA’s proposed veto of the Pebble copper and gold mine near Bristol Bay even though they oppose the project’s development. EPA on Wednesday proposed using the Clean Water Act to veto mining in the Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska, citing irreparable damage to the area’s valuable salmon fishery. But even though Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan don’t want Pebble to advance, they see the Biden EPA’s plan as a heavy-handed federal government intervention that could stymie future resource development in Alaska. […] ‘I have consistently opposed the EPA’s pursuit of preemptive veto authority over resource development projects on state lands in Alaska,’ Sullivan said.” [E&E News, 5/27/22]
The Environmental Investigation Agency, An Investigative Advocacy Group, Recorded Undercover Videos Of Pebble’s CEO Claiming Sullivan’s Public Opposition To The Mine Was Merely Political Rhetoric. According to Anchorage Daily News, “The Environmental Investigation Agency, an environmental group, hired individuals in August and September to pose as potential investors in the project, in online video meetings with the Pebble executives. The group released the videos on Monday. […] Among other statements, Collier described Murkowski and Sullivan as merely making political points when they said in August that the Corps can’t permit the mine, statements the senators denied.” [Anchorage Daily News, 9/23/20]
Pebble CEO Tom Collier Claimed Sullivan Was Quietly “Sitting Over In A Corner” And Not Staunchly Opposed To The Mine. According to Anchorage Daily News, “The tapes also show that Pebble believes that Republican Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan were being political when they said in August that the Corps can’t permit the mine. The two senators were wrong to say, based on a news story, that the Trump administration would delay the project, Collier said. They’re now embarrassed and are ‘frozen,’ Collier said. ‘So right now they’re just kind of sitting over in a corner and being quiet,’ he said. […] Collier said in the tapes that Sen. Dan Sullivan, up for reelection on Nov. 3, has gone quiet on Pebble and is hoping to ‘ride out the election.’” [Anchorage Daily News, 9/22/20]
Sullivan’s Office Denied Claims That Pebble Was Working With Him To Minimize Harm To The Mine Permitting Process In His Public Remarks. According to Anchorage Daily News, “Thiessen, like Collier, also made statements in the videos that drew strong rebukes from Alaska leaders. […] Thiessen said Pebble is trying to work with Sullivan so the senator doesn’t say anything that could harm Pebble’s effort to receive the permit from the Corps. Sullivan’s office on Tuesday called that ‘yet another fabrication.’” [Anchorage Daily News, 9/23/20]
Pebble CEO Tom Collier Resigned After Recordings Of His Comments On “Connections And Influence” With Politicians Including Sullivan Were Made Public. According to Anchorage Daily News, “Pebble Limited Partnership CEO Tom Collier resigned on Wednesday after an environmental group released secretly recorded videos of Collier and Ron Thiessen, president of Pebble parent company Northern Dynasty Minerals, discussing their connections and influence with Alaska politicians and regulators. […] The embellishments involved Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and senior representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among others, Northern Dynasty said.” [Anchorage Daily News, 9/23/20]
Pebble Mine’s Parent Company, Pebble Limited Partnership, And Its Former CEO Tom Collier, Were Subpoenaed As Part Of A Grand Jury Investigation. According to The Hill, “The Pebble Limited Partnership, which is behind the controversial Pebble Mine project in Alaska, and its former CEO Tom Collier have been subpoenaed by the U.S. attorney’s office in Alaska, according to the company that owns the partnership. Northern Dynasty Minerals said in a statement Friday that the subpoenas for documents were issued as part of a grand jury investigation. The investigation is ‘apparently involving previously disclosed recordings of private conversations regarding the Pebble Project,’ the statement said.” [Hill, 2/8/21]
Sullivan Voiced Opposition To The Pebble Mine After The “Pebble Tapes” Were Released. According to Alaska’s News Source, “After Sen. Dan Sullivan’s name was dropped by executives of Pebble Limited Partnership in secretly recorded tapes released this week, the senator has gone to Twitter to oppose the mine. In a tweet posted Thursday afternoon, Sullivan says, ‘Let me be even more clear: I oppose Pebble Mine. No Pebble Mine.’ That tweet ended a thread of posts he started about the ‘lies of Pebble’s leadership’ the senator said he needed to set the record straight.” [Alaska’s News Source, 9/24/20]
Sullivan Had Taken Thousands In Donations From Individuals Directly Tied To The Pebble Mine Project. According to the Intercept, “Judd Legum’s newsletter Popular Information has previously reported that executives from the mine partnership and their lobbyists had contributed $34,000 to the senator’s campaigns. In addition to that, Nance and two other Squire Patton Boggs employees have delivered $15,500 for Sullivan’s campaigns — $10,300 of that since the mine hired the lobbying firm in 2018.” [Intercept, 10/23/20]
2020: Sullivan Pledged To Give Campaign Donations From Pebble CEO Tom Collier To Charity. According to Anchorage Daily News, “Sullivan said he made sure the process was based on science rather than politics. When federal agencies said the project should not move forward, he agreed. ‘The Pebble Mine is dead, and I am going to keep it that way,’ Sullivan said. The senator also said he would give the donations his campaign received from Collier to charity — a request Gross has centered campaign ads around.” [Anchorage Daily News, 10/11/20]
2026: Sullivan Had Not Donated The Pebble Campaign Contributions. According to AlaskaFish.news, “It was only three days after the tapes were released that Dan Sullivan abruptly changed his position and said that he opposed the Pebble mine project. The next month, he also promised to donate campaign contributions from mine advocates to charity. According to Federal Election disbursement reports, that never happened. A Popular Information’s investigation revealed that Sullivan had received a total of $34,150 donations connected to the Pebble project since 2017.” [AlaskaFish.news, 4/13/26]
Sullivan Abruptly Declined To Answer Why He Had Not Followed Through With his Pledge To Give Away The Campaign Contributions He Received From The CEO Of The Controversial Pebble Mine. According to Raw Story, “Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) had a simple answer when a constituent confronted him about a broken campaign promise at a public forum this month — he ran. […] ‘Hey Senator, do you have a second for one more question?’ asked Jacob Carlson. ‘Nope, I've got to run, I've got a 5 o'clock press conference. And I've got to prepare for it,’ Sullivan said. ‘Oh but why did you break your pledge to return the money you took from the Pebble Mine CEO?’ Carlson asked. Sullivan's response was swift. ‘I gotta run. Thanks!’ he said — and disappeared. ‘Why did you break your pledge? To return the money?’ Carlson demanded to know. But the senator had already left.” [Raw Story, 4/20/26]
Sullivan Was Still Accepting Donations From Pebble Mine’s Current CEO, Jon Shively, As Of The First Quarter Of 2026. According to Raw Story, “Sullivan is still accepting contributions from Pebble's current CEO John Shively, who gave $500 in December and another $500 in February.” [Raw Story, 4/20/26]
Fred Nance, An Executive At Pebble Mine’s Lobby Shop Squire Patton Boggs, Was A Director On The Board Of Sullivan’s Family Company, RPM. According to The Intercept, “One of the top lobbying firms for Pebble Mine, Squire Patton Boggs, has close ties to Sullivan’s family business. Squire Patton Boggs has received at least $980,000 in lobbying payments since 2018 from Pebble Limited Partnership to advocate for permitting of the mine. Fred Nance, a top executive at Squire Patton Boggs, is an independent director on the board of Sullivan’s family company, meaning he has supervisory powers over Sullivan’s brother Frank, who is the company’s CEO. By hiring Squire Patton Boggs, the Pebble Mine’s owners have entangled themselves not just inside the complexities of Alaska politics, but inside the business interests of the Sullivan family.” [Intercept, 10/23/20]
Sullivan’s 2014 Campaign Manager, Ben Mohr, Worked For Pebble Limited Partnership During Previous Six Years. According to Anchorage Daily News, “Dan Sullivan, the former state natural resources commissioner running for U.S. Senate, has announced his core campaign staff -- and highlighted that it was an ‘All Alaskan Team.’ […] Ben Mohr of Anchorage is campaign manager. He has worked the past six years for Pebble Limited Partnership, the group trying to develop an enormous gold and copper mine. He's a graduate of Alaska Pacific University and vice chairman of the Alaska Humanities Forum. He's also former chairman of Anchorage Young Republicans. He has lived in Alaska just over 10 years.” [Anchorage Daily News, 11/27/13]
Pebble CEO Collier Professed A “Very Close Relationship” With Sullivan’s State Director Renee Reeve, Claiming Pebble Executive John Shively Rented An Apartment From Her. According to Reporting from Alaska, “He said that is an exaggeration and the company has a good working relationship with Renee Reeve, Sullivan’s state director, and that former Pebble boss John Shively rents an apartment from her. ‘We have a very close relationship with one of his top advisors who in fact—our—the guy who was my predecessor, John Shively, rents an apartment in Alaska from his, from Sullivan’s state director. And the two of them have worked together for 20 years so John knows her well and talks to her regularly. And she’s embarrassed that the senator got out there with the wrong message. But right now, John—who keeps informed with her, who keeps in touch with her—has been told that he’s just gonna be quiet. He’s gonna try to ride out the election and remain quiet.” [Reporting from Alaska, 9/21/20]
Poll: 95% Of Alaskans Voiced Support For Protecting Bristol Bay, While 64% Opposed The Pebble Mine Project. According to National Fisherman, “According to the survey, conducted in late September 2025 by David Binder Research, 95 percent of Alaskans say it is important to protect Bristol Bay, a rare point of bipartisan alignment among Republicans, Independents, and Democrats. The results reinforce what many in Alaska’s commercial fishing sector have long voiced: safeguarding the region’s salmon runs, communities, and jobs transcend political lines. The poll also found that nearly two-thirds of voters, 64 percent, continue to oppose the proposed Pebble Mine, and 71 percent remain concerned about additional mining proposals across the Bristol Bay watershed.” [National Fisherman, 12/12/25]