Proposal threatens wilderness, wildlife

The recent decision from U.S. District Court in Missoula further validates our long-standing claim that the blueprint for the Rock Creek mine is flawed, and the impacts from the proposed project excessive. While the details of the ruling are still pending, the court did conclude that both the Record of Decision approving the mine, and the Final Environmental Impact Statement would be revoked and remanded back to the permitting agencies.

This recent federal court decision comes on the heels of a 2008 Montana Supreme Court judgment that rescinded the permit allowing the Rock Creek mine to discharge as much as 3 million gallons of mine wastewater daily into the Clark Fork River. The permit for this perpetual discharge into the river remains invalid.

In 2006, a Montana district court voided the permit that would allow seepage from the 340-acre tailings impoundment to groundwater because it violated water quality standards for arsenic. The permit for this daily discharge of approximately 30,000 gallons remains in legal limbo.

Three different courts in four years have voided the Rock Creek mine’s two most significant discharge permits, and the two documents that are essentially the foundation of the permitting process for the project. The decisions by the courts were based on facts related to the impacts to water quality, wildlife, and the extremely sensitive regional ecosystem that surrounds the proposed mine site.

These decisions are collectively significant on the long road to eventually stopping the Rock Creek mine.

The problem with the Rock Creek mine is the significant and enduring nature of the impacts to the land, water, and wildlife. A mine-related perpetual discharge of wastewater to the Clark Fork River would require the attention of our children, grandchildren, and beyond.

A mountain of waste rock would be deposited adjacent to the Clark Fork River, contaminating the region’s groundwater. Metals would be leached and deposited into our river and aquifer from the tailings and wastewater discharges.

The Rock Creek mine would construct a series of tunnels and create massive cavities beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. Hollow voids would result from the extraction of the ore and rock. These empty spaces would become a sink, diverting water crucial to wilderness lakes and streams into the mine void where it would become contaminated with metals and blasting residue.

The proposed Rock Creek mine would introduce as much as 1,400 tons of sediment annually into Rock Creek, habitat for threatened bull trout. The impacts would likely cause the extirpation of this native species from Rock Creek. The proposed mine would displace the beleaguered grizzly bear from already limited habitat, likely driving this small population from the southern Cabinet Mountains.

The myriad of impacts to water quality, threatened species, and the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness would forever change this region. The Rock Creek Alliance is compelled to ensure this does not happen. We will continue to speak for our wild places, our lake, and those species that depend on clean water and habitat unspoiled by mining. The strong opposition to the mine that we have maintained for nearly 14 years will not waiver.

JIM COSTELLO

Montana coordinator

Rock Creek Alliance