MONTANA ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION CENTER
Gov. Gianforte Lets Mining Bad Actor Off the Hook
by Derf Johnson
U
nder former Gov. Steve Bullock, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) brought an enforcement action against Hecla Mining Co. CEO Phillips Baker under Montana’s “Bad Actor” law for his failure (and that of his previous company Pegasus) to reclaim hardrock mines in Montana, including the Zortman-Landusky and Beal Mountain mines. These former mine sites are now a major ongoing financial and environmental nightmare for the State of Montana, requiring a fortune of public money and resources in order to stabilize the sites, reclaim and reseed the old workings, and perpetually treat the water tainted with acid mine drainage. But, in what can only be described as a jaw-dropping and appalling turn of events, the Gianforte Administration filed a motion in late July to dismiss its own prosecution of the Bad Actor statute against Baker. While the Gianforte Administration offered some weak-kneed explanations for its 180-degree pivot, in truth this decision was a political calculation. Gov. Gianforte has made no bones about wanting to see the proposed Rock Creek and Montanore mines, on the flanks of the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness, proceed. Under the Bad Actor enforcement action that DEQ initiated, the work on these permits was suspended and DEQ ultimately would be prohibited from issuing a new permit until Baker compensated the state for the public money spent on reclamation of previous mine sites. Pegasus Gold had several mines operating in Montana during the 1980s and 1990s, including the Beal Mountain and Zortman-Landusky mines, and removed upwards of $800 million in gold from its various operations. In the late 1990s, Pegasus’ financial health took a nosedive and the
4
company declared bankruptcy, leaving Montana with the under-bonded cleanup liabilities at its former mines. To date, over $70 million in public money has been spent in reclamation at the Pegasus Mine, and the bill for perpetual treatment will continue forever. To add insult to injury, the Bad Actor law was enacted in 2001 in direct response to the devastation caused by the Pegasus Gold operations. The pol lut ion is a lso per manently contaminating the water for the Fort Belknap Indian Community (FBIC). Regarding Gov. Gianforte’s actions, FBIC President Andrew Werk, Jr. recently stated, “It is DEQ and the Gianforte Administration’s responsibility to uphold the law and not allow Hecla Mining and Baker to profit from new mines while the FBIC and other Montana communities continue to struggle with ongoing mining pollution. Their decision to forego enforcement of the law is wrong, plain and simple.” Gov. Gianforte’s actions raise some serious questions about how our government should function. What value is a law when it can simply
Protecting Montana’s natural environment since 1973.
story continues on pg. 7
