June 2006 Update

The Rock Creek Mine has suffered yet another setback as yet another judge (this time Helena district court judge Jeffrey Sherlock) has ruled that yet another government agency (this time DEQ) has violated yet another environmental law (this time Montana’s Clean Water Act as well as Montana’s Constitution). In a ruling issued in April, Judge Sherlock said the mine’s water discharge permit illegally allowed for too much arsenic pollution of ground water.

Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, with Rock Creek and Montanore mine proposals. Map by TerraPen EARTHWORKS.

The Rock Creek Mine is a controversial proposal to mine under the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. The mine adit will be located just outside the wilderness boundaries on Rock Creek near the Clark Fork River.

The mine’s discharge permit allowed for pollution from four discharge points. One of them (Outfall 2) was the discharge of water that had percolated through the mine’s tailing impoundment. According to the environmental impact statement for the mine, this discharge would increase the level of arsenic in ground water.

Judge Sherlock ruled that this discharge violated the Clean Water Act. The CWA prohibits the degradation of high quality waters. He also ruled that Montana’s Constitution prohibited this type of pollution as well. Sherlock wrote: “Arsenic is a known carcinogen that causes skin, lung and urinary-tract cancers… Even the most mathematically challenged can see that the predicted ground water arsenic level will increase as a result of the operation of Outfall 2.”

This is not the first time the permit for the Rock Creek Mine has run afoul of the law. Most recently a federal court ruled that the mine violated the Endangered Species Act. The mine will be constructed near spawning grounds for the endangered bull trout. It is also predicted to have adverse impacts on local grizzly bear populations, another endangered species.

This decision presents a major setback for the mine. It may take a major redesign of the mine to bring the Outfall 2 discharge into compliance with Montana’s Constitution.

IN THE NEWS (March 31, 2005) Judge rebuffs Rock Creek mine approval, by MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian.  "A controversial plan to mine beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness was pulled off the table Wednesday, with a court ruling that federal wildlife officials put grizzly bears and bull trout at risk when they approved the mine. . . ."