Proposed Rock Creek Mine Target of Lawsuit

 

By Jamison, Michael

 

KALISPELL - A controversial mine that would dig beneath a designated wilderness area is headed back to court, this time with environmentalists suing on behalf of endangered species. This latest litigation, mine managers said, could delay the first dirt work at Rock Creek Mine, which was scheduled to begin this spring.

 

On Friday, Feb. 29, a coalition of 10 conservation groups filed court documents challenging the federal government's approval of Rock Creek Mine. That silver and copper project is proposed north of Noxon, and would tunnel underneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.

 

For years, the mining plan has drawn sharp criticism, and has been mired in bureaucratic and courtroom challenges. This latest argues that federal wildlife officials violated the Endangered Species Act by approving the mine despite presumed effects on protected bull trout and grizzly bears.

 

In a separate filing, environmentalists also renewed their challenge to the mine's permit, issued by the U.S. Forest Service.

 

Specifically, the groups - represented by Earthjustice lawyers - argue the mine could push the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear population into extinction. Currently, that bear community is estimated at about three dozen grizzlies.

 

"This industrial mining operation will destroy the only thing that will save the last few grizzlies in the Cabinet-Yaak habitat," said Louisa Wilcox of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "If this mine is built, we will talk about grizzlies in the Cabinet- Yaak as we do the other 99 percent of grizzlies that were in the Lower 48 states when European settlers first arrived - in the past tense."

 

Likewise, conservationists say agents at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - the agency charged with protecting at-risk species - improperly signed off on the mine despite evidence that the operation could eradicate bull trout in Rock Creek.

 

That waterway is designated "critical habitat" for protected bull trout, a fact plaintiffs say should preclude mining there.

 

"They have a plan to dump sediments into bull trout critical habitat in the face of a law that says they cannot do that," said Earthjustice attorney Tim Preso.

 

Concerns have mounted that efforts already spent restoring bull trout in the Lower Clark Fork River Basin could be undermined by the Rock Creek project.

 

But officials at Revett Minerals Inc. say those concerns are unfounded, and argue the mine will actually bolster endangered wildlife populations.

 

"We feel these issues have been more than adequately dealt with," said Carson Rife, vice president of operations at Revett.

 

Rife said his company has put in place controls that will protect local waters, as well as mitigation measures designed to boost local grizzly bear populations. Revett has purchased habitat, hired wildlife specialists and is designing a multimillion-dollar wastewater treatment plant, he said.

 

"We're in the final stages of completing the engineering" on the treatment plant, Rife said. The company had hoped to begin groundwork on the facility by April, the first step before drilling an exploration tunnel beneath the wilderness.

 

That timeline, however,was delayed by an earlier suit claiming the Forest Service erred in granting Revett a permit.

 

"The Rock Creek Mine is a mine without a blueprint," said Jim Costello of the Rock Creek Alliance. "The federal government approved it even though much about the mine is unknown, and many of the critical decisions about its design will be made later."

 

Rife said hearings on that permitting case have been set for May, which pushes any site work back at least until June. He said he hopes the court will roll the two cases together, hearing arguments on both at the same time.

 

Otherwise, Rife said, construction of the water treatment plant - which will require an estimated six months to build - could be delayed into late summer or fall.

 

Preso, who would like to delay the mine's development indefinitely, agrees with Rife that hearing both cases at the same time makes sense, as they are "inextricably intertwined."

 

"We're going to try to get these cases on the same track," Preso said. "We'd like to have a decision back before Revett is ready to break ground."

 

If the mine is completed, Revett estimates it would produce about 10,000 tons of copper and silver ore per day for at least 30 years.

 

The groups involved in one or both of the lawsuits are Rock Creek Alliance, Cabinet Resource Group, Clark Fork Coalition, Earthworks, Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited, Idaho Council of Trout Unlimited, Pacific Rivers Council, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Natural Resources Defense Council, Montana Wilderness Association, and Great Old Broads for Wilderness.

 

Copyright The Missoulian Mar 4, 2008

 

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