gravel pit

The Montana Supreme Court has ruled against an injunction that stopped a gravel pit near Clearwater Junction, saying the neighbors challenging the pit used the wrong law.

After six months and five hearings, the Missoula Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday approved the expansion of a gravel pit in an area zoned only for residential development between Lolo and Florence.

Water rights, state law and other water-related issues took center stage in a hearing Thursday over whether Missoula County should grant a variance to allow a gravel pit south of Lolo room to expand in the years ahead.

Before handing down its decision, a state review board has asked an examiner to reinvestigate the details of a gravel pit near Clearwater Junction.

The proposed expansion of a gravel pit south of Lolo remains in limbo while the county has asked the pit owners and the neighbors to try to find a solution.

As Missoula County ponders a zoning variance for a gravel pit near Lolo, neighbors are already preparing to appeal.

Missoula County hopes to notch a number of conditions over the proposed expansion of a gravel pit in the Bitterroot Valley, including a bond for reclamation and a specific date for when the mine would sunset.

The gravel pit, owned since 2020 by Western Materials, currently covers 80 acres about 5 miles south of Lolo along Old Highway 93.

Missoula County last week convened a hearing on whether to approve an application from Western Materials, Inc., to almost double the size of its gravel pit along Old Highway 93 midway between Lolo and Florence.

Dicki Giuliani writes, "The approval by DNRC and DEQ to use this land for a gravel pit is completely contradictory and undermines a monumental decision made by the State of Montana in 2009."