The Environmental Investigation Agency has released two new tapes featuring Ron Thiessen, President of The Pebble Partnership’s parent company, Northern Dynasty Minerals. The same agency released their first batch of hidden camera tapes featuring Thiessen as well as former Pebble CEO Tom Collier in September, which put the project under a great deal of scrutiny. The latest videos display Thiessen’s belief that Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan planned to remain quiet about Pebble until the passing of a pro-Pebble permit.
Thiessen, on September 14, discussed Murkowski and Sullivan’s August public opposition to the Pebble Mine: “People tend to know each other [in Alaska], and we had quite a few contacts into the Murkowski and Sullivan operations, and as Tom said, they both were caught off-guard by the press and news report, and they published a statement that turned out to be quite in-error. Now, they’d rather not have to admit error. Better that they’re just quiet. We’re OK with that.”
He even boldly noted that once election season is over, all prior promises are off: “We are in what I like to call the ‘silly season,’ which is the final stages of a Presidential election. Everything people have something to say about, comments, it’s the kind of season where once it’s over, everybody forgets what everybody promised to do. You aren’t held to your promises.”
The videos originated when people hired to pose as potential investors in the Pebble Project recorded calls with Pebble officials in August and September of this year.
The Environmental Investigation Agency has said that these new videos are from the same recordings made in August and September that spurred so much controversy last month, and can still be heard in political ads on radio and television.
If the mine is permitted, Thiessen noted in the newly-released videos that he expects Alaskan taxpayers to foot about one quarter the bill for expenditures: “The total CapEx on this in round numbers is going to be about $5.5 billion. We believe the State of Alaska and other entities in Alaska will fund most of the infrastructure for about $1.5 [billion]. So the net is $4 billion – a combination of equity and bank financing.”
Governor Dunleavy’s office commented on the first batch of videos released last month: “The individuals in those videos embellished their relationships with state and federal officials at all levels.”