following changes to the development plan in 2018. Also, the recent and well-documented trend towards automation of mining means that actual employment figures will be substantially lower than those quoted in 2007. Automation of mines will further increase in the future. The mine would provide a domestic resource of raw materials lowering the United States reliance on foreign sources. Environmental Protection of the environment and fisheries will be ensured by the stringent environmental review and permitting process, including an EIS, that is required before development is allowed. Much of the poor environmental track record of mining occurred before current technologies and regulations. Northern Dynasty has a "no net loss" policy for fisheries. Secretly taped conversations In September 2020, the media reported that an environmental activist group, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an international NGO, while posing as potential investors in the mine had secretly taped conversations with Roland Thiessen, chief executive of Northern Dynasty Minerals, and Tom Collier, chief executive of Pebble Limited Partnership. During the conversations Collier and Thiessen detailed their plans to gain the favor of elected politicians from Juneau to Washington, D.C. While the USACE had previously decided that the mine would have "no measurable effect" on fish populations, in August it informed Pebble Limited Partnership that they had to do more to show how they would offset the damage caused by the mining operation. The Washington Post wrote, "...but even as the executives jump through several regulatory hoops, [...] they detailed their plan to manage all the decision-makers." The Post wrote, "Thiessen described both of the state’s senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, as politicians who might make noises about the project to appear sensitive to environmental concerns but ultimately won’t stand in their way." Referring to the letter the Corps issued in August, Collier was taped saying both senators had misinterpreted the letter and feeling "embarrassed" were "[now] just sort of sitting over in a corner and being quiet, okay?” Learning of the tapes, Murkowski responded, "Let me be clear: I did not misunderstand the Army Corps’ recent announcement. I am not 'embarrassed' by my statement on it, and I will not be 'quiet in the corner.' I am dead set on a high bar for large-scale resource development in the Bristol Bay watershed. The reality of this situation is the Pebble project has not met that bar and a permit cannot be issued to