Page 14 - Flathead Beacon // 9.14.16

NEWS
Environmental Coalition Challenges Rock Creek Mine Water Permit Groups say copper and silver mine near Noxon would dewater wilderness streams; mining company refutes claim
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
A coalition of environmental groups is challenging the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s proposed decision to issue a water permit to the company hoping to build a massive copper and silver mine near Noxon.
The coalition, including the Clark Fork Coalition, Rock Creek Alliance, Earthworks and the Montana Environ- mental Information Center, has alleged that the Hecla Mining Company’s Rock Creek Mine would dewater streams within the Cabinet Mountains Wilder- ness. The nonpro t environmental law rm Earthjustice represents the groups.
The formal objection was led with the DNRC on Sept. 6.
“This permit would give the Rock Creek Mine a free pass to permanently damage wilderness streams that belong to all Montanans and provide cold, clean water for threatened bull trout and other native sh,” said Earthjustice attorney Katherine O’Brien. “Fortunately, Mon- tana law protects our wilderness waters from the degradation the mine would in ict. By challenging DNRC’s pro- posed decision, we are seeking to hold the agency and the mine accountable to what the law requires.”
But mine o cials counter that the pro- posed Rock Creek Mine has been exten- sively studied and would not have a detri- mental impact on the environment.
ASARCO LLC rst proposed building the Rock Creek Mine in the 1980s. The proposed mine was sold to the Sterling Mine Company and then to the Revett Mining Company in the early 2000s, which also owned and operated the Troy Mine. In 2015, Hecla acquired Revett and vowed to push the Rock Creek permitting over the nish line.
If completed, the mine could produce 6 million ounces of silver and 50 million pounds of copper annually.
The U.S. Forest Service rst permitted
FLATHEAD
Hodgson Road Casino Project Approved
The Flathead County Board of Adjust- ment gave the go-ahead to a proposed casino and tavern project planned for the corner of U.S. Highway 93 and Hodgson Road, just south of White sh.
Board members gave their unanimous approval to the casino project during the Sept. 6 meeting, despite concerns from neighbors voiced during public comment.
The proposed 4,500-square-foot tav- ern and casino would be located next to Ohs’ Auto Body on U.S. Highway 93,
The Rock Creek Mine, now owned by Hecla, has been challenged by environmental groups who believe it will dewater wilderness streams. COURTESY REVETT MINERALS
the Rock Creek Mine in 2001, but it was later challenged in court over concerns about the impact to the wilderness above ground. Earlier this year, the Forest Ser- vice issued a draft environmental impact statement, and o cials expect a record of decision to be issued in 2017. Most of the state permits for the project were issued a decade ago and remain in e ect.
Environmentalists have also raised concerns about the cumulative e ects of two mines operating under the Cab- inets — closer to Libby, Mines Manage- ment has spent more than a decade per- mitting and developing the Montanore Mine, which hasn’t yet opened.
Conservationists like Mary Costello of
with the entrance on Hodgson Road. The project’s applicant and landowner is Gary Ohs, through Den Gar Properties, LLC.
Since the property is in the Blanchard Lake Zoning District, the owners needed a conditional-use permit to pursue a tav- ern. Flathead County Planning Director Mark Mussman said the board’s decision gives the project a green light from the county’s standpoint, but the owner is still waiting on a liquor license.
“If I were the developer, I would wait for that license before I started building,” Mussman said.
the Rock Creek Alliance have said in the past that turning the Cabinets area into an industrial zone goes against the core of wilderness protections.
“When Congress designated the Cab- inet Mountains Wilderness in 1964, it was to protect not only the land, but the vast number of stunning alpine lakes and streams that can be found within its borders,” she said. “To give our precious alpine waters to a mining company would be a travesty.”
Hecla’s Vice President of External A airs Luke Russell said both state and federal o cials have studied the mines extensively and that their data proves that wilderness streams would not be
Mussman said the project received little attention from the public before its originally scheduled Aug. 2 hearing, but after it was delayed for a month due to a lack of board members present, the plan- ning o ce heard from more neighbors.
The o ce received around 19 letters with concerns, Mussman said, largely centered on tra c entering and exit- ing the highway and the impact a casino might have on the neighborhood.
Planning sta wrote in its report on the project — the ndings of which were also unanimously supported by the board
dewatered.
“There is ample water available and
the mine will not have an adverse impact on the environment,” he said.
While environmental groups were challenging the Rock Creek Mine, Mines Management shareholders were expected to vote this week on whether or not to sell the company to Hecla. The merger would consolidate all of Northwest Montana’s proposed mines into one company. In the proposed merger, announced in May, each share of Mines Management will be exchanged for 0.2218 of a common share of Hecla. The deal is expected to be worth nearly $30 million.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
— that additional tra c generated by the casino isn’t anticipated to “generate excessive tra c.”
According to the planning sta report, the eventual plan is to tear down the existing buildings on the 3.8-acre prop- erty and replace them with the casino building. The casino itself would include 71 seats and four employees at maximum shift, meaning it would require 22 park- ing spaces. Access to the building would be an approach o of Hodgson Road, to the east side of the building.
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SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM