A commercial fishermen's group is running TV ads thanking Sen. Mark Begich for his opposition to the proposed Pebble Mine. Bob Waldrop is executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association. He says ads will begin running Wednesday. Waldrop calls the ad a "straight up thank you" for Begich's decision to speak out against Pebble. Waldrop says it's not a political ad and is intended to provide "positive reinforcement" for Begich's stance. Begich announced his opposition to the project after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a report concluding that large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed poses significant risks salmon. Critics of the EPA process worry the report will be used as the basis to pre-emptively veto the mine.
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