Page 10 - Flathead Beacon // 6.1.16

NEWS
County Objects to White sh’s Attempted Annexation of Park City attempting to bring 26 lots on West Lakeshore Drive into city limits
BY BEACON STAFF
The Flathead County Commission sent a letter to the City of White sh chal- lenging a piece of lakeshore property the city is seeking to annex.
During its May 25 meeting, the com- mission voted unanimously to send the letter to the White sh city manager, council, and parks department. It details the county’s objections to the attempted annexation of a property on West Lake- shore Drive.
White sh is seeking to bring 26 prop- erties on West Lakeshore Drive into the city limits, but one of them is a county park.
Commissioner Phil Mitchell said con- stituents had concerns about the park’s ownership changing.
“The neighbors just said we would like it left as a county park, not a city park,” Mitchell said.
He also said he would like to handle the issue sooner rather than later.
“I just want this addressed now, not
after the city seems to keep overstepping its boundaries at times,” Mitchell said.
Deputy county attorney Tara Fugina told the commission that the Flathead County Parks Department maintains and uses the park, and annexing it into the city would be “improper.”
Commissioner Pam Holmquist agreed with Fugina’s take, as did Commissioner Gary Krueger. Included in the letter is a piece of Montana statute that speci cally does not allow the annexation of county parks that are wholly surrounded by
other property being or already annexed. The White sh City Council is tak- ing a close look at potential annexation projects in the future, including talks in April about bringing Lion Mountain into the city limits as a way to clean up septic
leachate polluting White sh Lake.
In 2014, Flathead County took juris- dictional control of an land surrounding White sh after the state Supreme Court deemed it so. The land, known as the
doughnut, is now under county zoning.
news@ atheadbeacon.com
Hecla Vows to Develop Rock Creek, Montanore Mines Idaho-based mining company buys Mines Management
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based com- pany that purchased its second major mine project in Northwest Montana within a year has vowed to develop both the Rock Creek and Montanore mines.
Supporters of the proposed copper and silver mines say the development of either would be a boon to Lincoln Couny’s strug- gling economy, which has one of the high- est jobless rates in the state. But environ- mental groups worry about the impacts the mines will have on the wilderness above, saying the projects could dewater mountain streams for centuries.
On May 24, Hecla Mining Com- pany announced it was acquiring Spo- kane-based Mines Management, which has been trying to permit the Monta- nore Mine south of Libby for more than a decade. In the proposed deal, Mines Management shareholders will be paid in Hecla stock.
The deal still has to be formally approved by Mines Management’s share- holders, although CEO and Chairman
Glenn Dobbs said he doesn’t believe there will be any opposition. O cials expect the sale to be completed during the third quarter.
“Hecla is the logical company to move Montanore forward, with its close prox- imity to Rock Creek, as well as its simi- lar geology and scale,” said Hecla Presi- dent and CEO Phillips S. Baker in a press release. “We have considerable experi- ence operating the Greens Creek (Mine) in a National Monument which will, combined with our nancial strength and commitment to the community and environment, help Montanore reach its full potential.”
Hecla was founded in 1891 and cur- rently operates mines in Idaho, Alaska, Mexico and Quebec, Canada. In 2015, Hecla expanded into Montana when it purchased the Revett Mining Company, Inc., which owned the Troy Mine and the Rock Creek Project. Hecla permanently shuttered the Troy Mine while vowing to move forward with the Rock Creek Proj- ect that is still in the federal permitting process.
Hecla spokesperson Monique Hayes said the company plans on simultane- ously developing both mines. She said the company would complete the permitting of Montanore this year and hopes to begin evaluation work sometime next year.
Dobbs, who plans to retire once the sale goes through, said having the Monta- nore and Rock Creek projects under the same umbrella makes logistical sense.
“I can’t think of a company more ide- ally suited to take these two projects to production,” Dobbs said.
The two mines could produce more than 500 million ounces of silver and 4 billion pounds of copper in their lifetime. The two deposits are separated by about 7,000 feet of earth and a fault line, sug- gesting that at one time it was actually one ore body.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, the previ- ous owners of the projects, Noranda Min- erals Corp. and ASARCO Inc., explored the idea of mining the two ore bod- ies as one, via the Montanore adit that was already constructed. Documents obtained by the Beacon in 2015 through
a Freedom of Information Act request show that the idea was exhaustively studied in 1989, 1995 and 2000. How- ever, an environmental impact statement for the Rock Creek Mine issued in 2001 ruled that combining the projects would not o er any signi cant environmental advantages.
Despite the two projects now being under the same ownership, Hayes said the company plans to develop the two mines independently of each other.
Environmental groups worry about the impacts either mine will have on the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness. Earthworks led a lawsuit earlier this year against the U.S. Forest Service for approving parts of the Montanore proj- ect. Earthworks’ Bonnie Gestring said federal approval of the Montanore proj- ect violates state law and that she and others are worried about dewatering that could impact the wilderness.
“Our concerns about these mining projects remain regardless of what com- pany is developing them,” Grestring said.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
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JUNE 1, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM