FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2004 No. 04-086

Agreement Reached to Allow Pogo Gold Mine to Proceed
Northern Alaska Environmental Center Will Withdraw Permit Appeal

(Fairbanks) - Governor Frank H. Murkowski said today that he is pleased
that the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and Teck-Pogo Inc. have
come to an agreement under which the Center will withdraw its appeal of
the mine's EPA permit, allowing work to resume on mine construction.
The Pogo mine is being developed northwest of Delta Junction.

"This is a great day for Fairbanks and Delta Junction. I am pleased
that an agreement has been reached between the Center and Teck-Pogo that
will allow work to proceed and avoid the layoffs of hundreds of workers,
which would have occurred had the appeal not been withdrawn," Murkowski
said. "I want to thank those who negotiated this agreement,
particularly Commissioner Tom Irwin and our DNR mining permit team, and
EPA, who worked through the night with Teck-Pogo and the Center. And I
appreciate the strong resolve shown by Interior legislators to end this
impasse."

The agreement provides that the Center will withdraw its appeal of the
NPDES permit. In exchange, Teck-Pogo has agreed to provide additional
monitoring of the Goodpaster River. Teck also agreed to put a
stakeholder group in place to review the project. "This is similar to
the Regional Advisory Councils I proposed for Prince William Sound and
Cook Inlet after the oil spill," Murkowski said.

The Governor said restoration of 500 construction jobs and 300 mining
operations jobs were a key component of his natural resource/economic
development plan for the state. He encouraged Teck to continue to
maintain Alaska hire.

"I appreciate the concern shown by the Northern Alaska Environmental
Center on this project, and I appreciate their expressed support for the
mine project to move forward," Murkowski said.

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