Lawsuit alleges DEQ held back info on Blackfoot mine permit
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) Two Montana organizations are suing the state of Montana for not responding to an information request in enough time to allow the public to properly oppose mine exploration in the upper Blackfoot Valley.
On Wednesday, the Montana Environmental Information Center and the Clark Fork Coalition filed a complaint in Lewis and Clark County district court against the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, alleging the department violated their constitutional rights to know and to participate in a decision to permit mine exploration activities in the Blackfoot River drainage east of Lincoln.
“Like many of our rivers in the Clark Fork watershed, the Blackfoot bears the scars of legacy mining activity. But after decades of effort, the river and its fishery are on the mend,” said Andrew Gorder, Clark Fork Coalition legal director, in a statement. “Sufficient water supplies and high water quality are crucial to supporting the agricultural and recreational economies that support the Blackfoot Valley. Any new threat to the Blackfoot should be carefully scrutinized by our regulatory agencies, and the public must be fully informed in order to participate in the review process.”
The general public learned about new exploration in the Columbia Gold Project area when DEQ released a draft environmental assessment of the proposed activities in late March. Great Plains Mining LCC, a subsidiary of Australia-based Sentinel Metals, had filed an amendment to its exploration license on Jan. 2 to allow for additional exploration on a private inholding on the Lewis and Clark National Forest this year.
Aware of the amendment filing, the two organizations submitted a public information request on March 9, asking for copies of all permits, environmental analyses and correspondence within DEQ or between DEQ and Sentinel Metals regarding the project. On March 30, the Montana Office of Public Information Requests charged the organizations $175 for processing costs, which they immediately paid.
However, DEQ didn’t provide the information until June 12, which was 95 days after the request was made and a week after DEQ issued the final environmental assessment and approval of the project. So the groups didn’t have the information during the short public comment period that ran from March 24 to April 13, after DEQ agreed to extend the period for seven days.
The plaintiffs say their constitutional rights to know and to participate were violated since they didn’t get the requested information in a timely manner, which meant their comments regarding the draft environmental assessment couldn’t reflect that information. So they’re asking the court to throw out both the environmental assessment and the permit issued to Sentinel Metals.
“In Montana, we are guaranteed a fundamental right to participate in governmental decision-making, including permits for hardrock mines. However, this isn’t simply a paper exercise, and the government also has a duty to assure that our opportunity to participate is meaningful,” said Derf Johnson, Montana Environmental Information Center deputy director, in a statement. “If there are documents that are critical to the decision being made by the government, then the public needs to have those in advance. That’s where DEQ dropped the ball here.”
The exploration license amendment authorizes Sentinel Metals to use core drilling to characterize the Columbia Gold Project area, building on prior exploration conducted in 2016. Up to 21 drill holes will each have drill pads of 50 feet by 35 feet, which could affect up to 1.5 acres that were disturbed by earlier exploration activities. Some of the holes may be drilled as deep as 2,300 feet, so they will likely pass through the aquifer.
The property, owned mostly by Great Plains Mining, is about 3 miles south of Highway 200 and contains three old mine sites: the Columbia, Rover and Seven Up Pete mines. Seven Up Pete Creek flows along its southwestern border and a small tributary on its northern side feeds into Hogum Creek. Both creeks flow into the Blackfoot River.
Sentinel Metals is a new mining company that debuted on the Australian stock market on Oct. 30 under the leadership of former Rio Tinto executive Matt Herbert. On its homepage, Sentinel touts the Columbia Gold Project as its flagship gold project, saying Montana “a great place to do business” because “Montana offers a compelling setting for new mine development, supported by a stable regulatory environment and strong infrastructure.”
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.