{"id":30658,"date":"2021-08-19T14:57:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T19:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/fort-belknap-indian-community-challenges-deq-over-ending-bad-actor-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2021-08-19T14:57:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T19:57:24","slug":"fort-belknap-indian-community-challenges-deq-over-ending-bad-actor-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/fort-belknap-indian-community-challenges-deq-over-ending-bad-actor-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Belknap Indian Community challenges DEQ over ending \u2018bad actor\u2019 lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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According to the Fort Belknap Indian Community, untreated waste from the former Zortman-Landusky mine complex is flowing into the reservation in Montana. (Photo courtesy Fort Belknap Indian Community)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>Fort Belknap Indian Community<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and a coalition of environmental nonprofit groups said this week they plan to sue the Montana Department of Environmental Quality for failing to uphold its duties under the Metal Mine Reclamation Act.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a filing August 2 in Lewis and Clark County District Court, the groups<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>said they were \u201cdisappointed\u201d by DEQ\u2019s recent decision\u00a0<\/span>not to label Hecla president Phillips Baker, Jr. a \u201cbad actor\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for failing to clean up the Zortman-Landusky gold mine when he served as vice president of Pegasus Gold. Pegasus\u00a0<\/span>filed for bankruptcy in 1998<\/span><\/a>, leaving the state with an acid mine drainage clean-up effort that\u2019s expected to continue for generations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The agency\u2019s decision to dismiss the lawsuit seeking to designate<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>Hecla and Baker as \u201cbad actors\u201d means that Hecla won\u2019t have to reimburse the state for tens of millions of dollars it\u2019s spent\u00a0<\/span>cleaning up the Zortman-Landusky Mine in north-central Montana<\/span><\/a>\u00a0before it can move forward with two proposed silver and copper mines in northwest Montana.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2015, Hecla bought the Rock Creek and Montanure mines south of Libby with the hope of extracting silver and copper from what\u2019s believed to be one of the largest untapped deposits of either metal in the world. But the mines have been stalled by a series of lawsuits for decades. In 2018, Montana sought to bar Hecla and Baker from pursuing new mining permits in the state until they cleaned up former mining projects, including the\u00a0<\/span>Zortman-Landusky Mine<\/span><\/a>. That action was taken under the administration of former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican who took office in January, has taken a different approach to the beleaguered project. Last July,<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>Gianforte held a campaign event at Hecla\u2019s Libby office<\/span><\/a>;<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>a year later Gianforte\u2019s DEQ announced that it would dismiss the lawsuit against Hecla and Baker.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter careful analysis, DEQ has decided not to pursue the case further,\u201d the agency said in a press release July 14. It cited \u201ca number of factors including complex, procedural hurdles that complicate the case and potentially risk DEQ\u2019s ultimate goal of preventing bad actors from operating in Montana\u201d in its decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the agency motion to dismiss the case against Hecla and Baker<\/span>,\u00a0<\/b>it argued that it would rather address the problem of bad actors through legislative, rather than judicial, channels.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Fort Belknap Indian Community and five environmental groups that intervened in the lawsuit said DEQ is wrong not to \u201cenforce Montana law and safeguard the interests of the people of Montana.\u201d The groups said although they cannot<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>prevent the department from seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, they do plan to initiate legal action against the agency over its failure to enforce the \u201cbad actor\u201d provision in the Mental Mine Reclamation Act.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDEQ has done a one-eighty on enforcing the bad actor law,\u201d said Rock Creek Alliance Executive Director Mary Costello in a press release about the groups\u2019 decision to challenge DEQ\u2019s handling of the<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>situation. \u201cThey are allowing political favors to the mining industry to undermine the law and, in doing so, are abdicating their responsibility to protect Montana taxpayers from current and future liabilities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe State of Montana alone has contributed more than $32 million into this effort and more will be needed since the cleanup costs will be in perpetuity,\u201d Fort Belknap Indian Community President Andrew Werk, Jr., said in the\u00a0<\/span>press release<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is DEQ and the Gianforte Administration\u2019s responsibility to uphold the law and not allow Hecla Mining and Baker to profit from new mines while the Fort Belknap Indian Community and other Montana communities continue to struggle with ongoing mining pollution,\u201d Werk said. \u201cTheir decision to forego enforcement of the law is wrong, plain and simple.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hecla and DEQ didn\u2019t immediately respond to Montana Free Press\u2019 request for comment Tuesday afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Billings native Amanda Eggert covers environmental issues for MTFP. Amanda is a graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism who has written for Outside magazine and Outlaw Partners. At Outlaw Partners she led coverage for the biweekly newspaper\u00a0Explore Big Sky<\/a>. Contact Amanda at aeggert@montanafreepress.org<\/a>)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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The post Fort Belknap Indian Community challenges DEQ over ending \u2018bad actor\u2019 lawsuit<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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According to the Fort Belknap Indian Community, untreated waste from the former Zortman-Landusky mine complex is flowing into the reservation in Montana. (Photo courtesy Fort Belknap Indian Community) The\u00a0Fort Belknap Indian Community\u00a0and a coalition of environmental nonprofit groups said this week they plan to sue the Montana Department of Environmental <\/p>\n

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