Rock Creek Mine loses water permit

A Montana judge has voided a water-quality permit for the controversial Rock Creek Mine that would be drilled beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.

District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena found that the proposed method for treating mine wastewater - through an unlined tailings pond - would violate state water-quality laws and the Montana Constitution.

State law prohibits mines from causing any increase in existing levels of arsenic, and that's what the Rock Creek plan would do, Sherlock concluded.

"We've been saying for years that this mine would degrade water quality," said Tracy Stone-Manning, executive director of the Clark Fork Coalition, one of five groups that sued over the water-quality issue. "Although it's extremely unfortunate that we were forced to take our arguments to the courts, it's gratifying to have an independent judge confirm what we've been saying all along."

Sherlock's ruling points to data in the environmental impact statement prepared by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality that shows the mine would produce increased arsenic levels in ground water.

The judge also supported the plaintiffs' claims that the arsenic increase would violate the Montana Constitution's "right to a clean and healthy environment."

"Since the Montana Constitution's projection of the environment is prospective and preventative, plaintiffs here need not wait until the mine actually goes into operation and the carcinogenic discharge occurs," Sherlock wrote.

The plaintiffs say the ruling is another setback for Revett Minerals Inc., the Spokane-area mining company pursuing the Rock Creek Mine.

But company officials don't see it that way.

They point to the ruling's final statement that says the permit has been voided, but that "does not mean that the proposed mine cannot go forward. It does mean, however, that the … permit needs to be reworked concerning the arsenic seepage."

Carson Rife, Revett's vice president of operations, said the company already was working with state officials to revise the permit because it is set to expire this year.

Rife said the plaintiffs send a misleading message that the mine will foul public waters with arsenic. Instead, he says the mine's discharge water actually will have arsenic levels five times lower than drinking-water standards.

Rife said the ruling doesn't affect the first phase of mine operation: developing an exploratory tunnel for the mine. That can't happen until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues a revised biological opinion for the project.

A 2004 ruling from a federal judge found that environmental reviews didn't adequately address threats to grizzly bear and bull trout populations. That prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to withdraw its biological opinion for a revision that is still under way.

Other problems for Rock Creek are two cave-ins that have occurred at the Troy Mine, another Revett operation west of the northern end of the Cabinet Mountains. The Troy Mine was held up as a model for the Rock Creek Mine, and critics of Rock Creek claim that cave-ins could have harmful impacts on alpine lakes in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.

The Kootenai National Forest has hired a consultant to review the potential for surface "subsidence" from mining beneath the wilderness area.

"This mine is nothing but problems," said Mary Costello of the Rock Creek Alliance. "But when you look at the pristine surroundings where they are trying to dig this huge mine, that should come as no surprise. There are some places that are just not suitable for a mine."

Revett officials have insisted that the mine would have no impacts on the wilderness area, and the mining operation would provide funding and other measures aimed at promoting grizzly bear and bull trout conservation.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com