The Environmental Protection Agency is backing the Alaska Native village of Kivalina in a new study of one of the world's largest zinc and lead mines.

Hunters from the village say subsistence harvests have declined ever since the Red Dog mine opened 20 years ago. The EPA confirmed a decline in caribou and beluga.

The draft supplemental environmental impact study, however, says water quality has improved. Some villagers feared their supply was being contaminated by mine waste.

The EPA is taking comments on the draft because Red Dog is seeking permits to keep operating for another 20 years. NANA Regional Corp., the Alaska Native corporation that owns the land where the mine is located, say the study is based on flawed data.

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Subsistence harvest near Red Dog mine declines (The Anchorage Daily News 1/29)