Groups file suit over Rock Creek Mine permit

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A new lawsuit challenges plans for a proposed copper and silver mine in northwestern Montana.

Four conservation groups says the wrong type of state permit is being considered for the Rock Creek mine, and sensitive native fish will be jeopardized if it’s developed.

The suit against mining company Revett and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality was filed in state court by the Clark Fork Coalition, Earthworks, Rock Creek Alliance and Trout Unlimited.

Revett wants to develop the Rock Creek mine beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. The lawsuit asks the court to find that a different type of state permit is required.

DEQ and Revett have said they plan to permit the mine construction under a provision of state law known as a “general permit,” which allows projects such as highway construction to proceed without obtaining a site-specific water quality permit from the state, and without the public involvement that goes along with such a permit.

The groups say the general permit was never intended to apply to situations such as the Rock Creek Mine.

“The general permitting laws say in black and white that they don’t apply to situations where unique ecological resources are at stake,” said Loren Albright, member of the Board of Trustees of Trout Unlimited. “If Rock Creek doesn’t meet that definition, I don’t know what does. It’s deeply disappointing that the state sees this project as garden-variety construction with no need for public involvement.”

Revett has indicated it wants to begin construction of the first phase of the mine this summer.

Last week, it began building a small office building and water treatment facility on nearby private land outside the Rock Creek watershed. If Revett seeks to go forward with actual mine construction, the groups say they will consider seeking an injunction to stop it.

“Every state and federal agency to look at the situation agrees that Rock Creek already has all the sediment pollution its native fish can stand,” said Karen Knudsen, executive director of the Clark Fork Coalition.