July 29, 2019  Helena, M.T.

A Montana District Court judge has invalidated the water permit for the Montanore Mine , a proposed silver-copper mine that would have bored beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in Montana. The permit issued by Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality would have allowed Hecla Mining Company and its subsidiary, Montanore Minerals Corporation, to discharge mine wastewater and contaminated storm water into multiple streams that traverse public lands in the Cabinet Mountains and provide irreplaceable habitat for threatened bull trout.

“Hecla’s proposal to mine under the Cabinet Mountains has always been a bad idea for Montana. This ruling protects clean water on public lands that belong to all of us,” said Earthjustice attorney Katherine O’Brien. “The decision from the court also sends a strong message that our state environmental agency cannot cut corners when it comes to permitting industrial pollution in our streams.”

The court’s ruling, issued in response to a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice on behalf of Montana Environmental Information Center, Save Our Cabinets, and Earthworks, concluded that Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality violated multiple provisions of the federal Clean Water Act and Montana Water Quality Act in authorizing water pollution from the mine. The court concluded that the state agency failed to establish essential pollution restrictions for numerous contaminants. The court also determined that the agency unlawfully relied on an outdated pollution authorization issued in 1992 to a different company for a different project to allow Hecla and its subsidiary to evade Montana’s legal protections for high-quality waters.

“This is a big win for clean water,” said Bonnie Gestring, Northwest Program Director for Earthworks.  “The court affirmed that Montanore cannot make use of a 27-year-old permit that would allow unnecessary pollution of Libby Creek, rather than complying with today’s laws to better protect Montana’s trout streams.”

Montana's Cabinet Mountains Wilderness is one of the nation’s original wilderness areas.

Eric Ian for Earthjustice