Bristol May Curse | Pebble Mine Alaska Bristol Bay
LOPKERJO
Bristol May Curse | Pebble Mine Alaska Bristol Bay
by
LOPKERJO
is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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For more than a decade, the threat of a huge, open-pit copper and gold mine has loomed over the heart of pristine salmon spawning territory in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Following a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision in 2020 to deny a key permit for the mine, the EPA released a preliminary legal determination in May 2022 that forbids mining waste disposal in the Bay’s watershed.
If finalized and successfully defended in court, the EPA decision should spell the end of the Pebble Mine proposal.
Pebble Mine would directly impact the world’s greatest sockeye salmon run. It would put in jeopardy thousands of American jobs, a cultural tradition of subsistence dating back 10,000 years, and a robust sport-fishing and tourism economy.
Pebble Mine let her be
She's so fine, don't you see
She said no, now let her go
There'll be trouble if you stay
Beware the Curse of Bristol May
A man came once looking for gold
He could find some here, he was told
"You'd better ask the Lady first"
They warned him of the Bristol Curse
But that young man was way too proud
He didn't believe it was not allowed
To dig for gold without asking her first
He didn't believe the Bristol May Curse
He stabbed her belly with his pick
And plucked a nugget one inch thick
He screamed with joy and raised it high
And laughed at the lady he dared to defy
Then came a rumble from the sky
A whistling wind began to cry
It was just the start, it would get much worse
Just the start of the Bristol May Curse
He heard a voice from far away
It was the voice of old Lady May
He fell to his knees and begged for mercy
She asked him nicely "Are you thirsty?"
He opened his mouth and in she poured
Molten gold, the stuff he adored
She gave him his fill, then some more
And now he lives in Bristol Bay lore
Sometimes when it storms
If you close your eyes
You can still hear his golden cries
In the howling wind and thunders' decay
You can still hear that man
Who scorned Bristol May
Pebble Mine let her be
She's so fine, don't you see
She said no, now let her go
There'll be trouble if you stay
Beware the Curse of Bristol May
Beware the Curse of Bristol May