Mega-star Robert Redford opposes Alaska mine

[April 22, 2011]  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Call it the fight between the mega-mine and the mega-star.

Hollywood star Robert Redford is speaking out against the Pebble Mine, a huge copper and gold deposit poised for development in southwest Alaska, which also hosts the world's last and best wild salmon streams.

Redford posted a blog entry Thursday morning on the Huffington Post website that says he's not against mining but is against "putting mega-mines where they don't belong."

He also is speaking out in a New York Times advertisement paid for by the Natural Resources Defense Council asking mining companies Rio Tinto and Anglo American to leave Bristol Bay alone.

Redford describes Pebble as a disaster-in-the making. But the mining companies maintain they can develop the mine responsibly and without harming fish.

[Associated Press]

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