SOMERS - A representative of two environmental groups says
Montana's Department of Environmental Quality for
years has been ineffective and perhaps purposefully negligent
in its environmental oversight and pollution monitoring at
the now-closed Troy copper and silver mine in Lincoln County.
This shows the agencies cannot be trusted to oversee
the new Rock Creek mine project in nearby Sanders County, the
environmental advocate said.
"Ignoring vital health and safety issues at (the
Troy mine) has allowed the agencies to grant a questionable permit
at
Rock Creek," said Cesar Hernandez of Somers, a representative
of the Montana Wilderness Association and the Cabinet
Resources Group based in Noxon.
State agencies denied the charge, rebutting Hernandez point by point.
Some background: Both projects were ASARCO mining properties
originally. Troy operated from 1981 to 1993.
Meanwhile, ASARCO struggled for almost 14 years to get
a permit for the Rock Creek mine, a similar "roof-and-pillar"
project in nearby Sanders County. In October 2000, ASARCO
sold both mining projects to Sterling Mining Co. But
reclamation at Troy remains ASARCO's responsibility, because
Sterling has not taken over bonding responsibility from
ASARCO.
At Rock Creek, a mining plan was recently approved.
But Sterling has yet to post any bond, so permitting and
construction cannot begin. The bond at Rock Creek is set
at $30 million for surface reclamation, and water treatment
costs could vary from $14 million to $44 million, state
agencies say. Bond at Troy for reclamation and other work is
$10.5 million, but could go higher.
Hernandez, a former resident of western Sanders County,
for years has been a critic of ASARCO's mine at Troy, as well
as plans to build the Rock Creek mine.
Hernandez alleges that at Troy, the state has not required
a groundwater monitoring program. He says this violates the
Troy mine's original operating permit.
He also said that the state has not required a Montana
Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit for the Troy
mine's tailings impoundment, even though pollution has
occurred in Lake Creek near the mine.
Such lack of oversight bodes poorly for the future oversight
of the proposed Rock Creek Mine, according to
Hernandez.
"If this is the kind of oversight the state and
U.S. Forest Service are promising for the proposed Rock Creek
Mine, then
where are we?" Hernandez complained in a recent letter
to Jan Sensibaugh, director of the state Department of
Environmental Quality.
Sensibaugh responded in a letter, detailing recent work
of her agency at the Troy mine. She said she "discussed your
issues with appropriate staff, and I am comfortable with
their responses and DEQ's performance."
In conversations with the Missoulian this week, other
state officials directly in charge of the mining permits and
reclamation oversight at the Troy mine rebutted Hernandez
assertions point by point.
According to Warren McCullough, chief of the Environmental
Management Bureau in the DEQ, the state has followed
the letter of the law in dealing with Troy permitting and
reclamation, and has acted properly with regard to both a
groundwater monitoring program and Montana Pollution Discharge
Elimination System permitting.
He said the Troy mine has had minimal environmental
impacts over the years, and this fact is documented by the water
quality and biological and aquatic monitoring programs
overseen by his agency.
Contrary to Hernandez's assertions, ASARCO "did
supply a satisfactory water quality, biological and aquatic
monitoring program for Lake Creek, which was approved by
the agencies," he said. "ASARCO continued to provide
that information until well after mine closure," McCullough
said.
He agreed that some evidence of pollution did turn up.
"The water quality monitoring showed some elevations
in potassium which has no water quality standard and in nitrate
which has a recommended standard only. No major impacts
to Lake Creek were documented during operations, even
after a tailings spill during operations," he said.
Impacts from the tailings spill were of very short duration.
As for ground water, "Over a period of years, ASARCO
and (consultant) Summit Envirosolutions have drilled
groundwater wells and no impacts have been documented to
groundwater. More hydrogeological studies continue on
the impoundment site to determine the potential long-term
fate of copper in the water piped from the mine to the
impoundment. More wells are planned. Once the studies are
completed and ASARCO presents a plan for long-term
water treatment, the agencies will prepare an environmental
analysis on a new reclamation plan and water treatment plan
for the mine," he said.
At that time - perhaps as early as next year - a long-term
groundwater monitoring plan will be developed and analyzed
during the environmental analysis process, McCullough said.
He agreed that the state has not yet required a Montana
Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. Whether such a
permit ultimately will be required is still being studied.
"The ongoing hydrogeological investigations will
determine whether a MPDES permit is needed for long-term water
disposal in the (tailings) impoundment," he said.
Before Troy can reopen to mining, the agencies would
also review data from new wells and existing water quality
information and decide whether a MPDES permit application
would be needed.
McCullough said the state is concerned about the cost
of reclamation at the Troy mine, which was operated by
ASARCO from 1982 until it was closed due to low metal prices
in 1993. The estimates for those costs have skyrocketed
because of environmental concerns.
"The bond at Troy was for many years $2.7 (million)
or $2.8 million," McCullough said. "We took a look at
it, and
bumped it up to $10.5 million on an interim basis - $9.5
million for reclamation and dirt work, with $1 million for water
treatment," he said. This is an 'interim' bond, and
it could go higher, depending on completion of ongoing environmental
studies.
"We hope there will be significant progress"
toward completion of those studies this year, he said. Then either
an
environmental assessment or a more thorough environmental
impact statement on the reclamation plan will be required.
Hernandez has also criticized the new mine owner, Sterling
Mining Co., as being without the financial resources or
technical expertise to proceed with the Rock Creek mining
project. As evidence, Hernandez points out that the state has
refused to recognize Sterling as the responsible owner
for reclamation at Troy, even though ASARCO sold the mine to
Sterling.
McCullough said the law is clear - whoever has posted
the bond maintains responsibility. Sterling has not posted bond
on either of the mining projects it has purchased, he said.
"We are not in a position to make moral judgments.
This is purely a legal matter. The current permit and bond is
in the
name of ASARCO. ASARCO can sell that property but a (mining)
permit does not transfer until a replacement bond"
has been supplied by the new owner, he said.
McCullough said his agency welcomes the kind of scrutiny
that Hernandez and other environmental advocates have
provided, both at Troy and Rock Creek, even if the state
disagrees with Hernandez over interpretations of various
technical requirements of the law.
"We can't be everywhere all the time. If people
feel there is a problem, or something is lacking, we are happy
to look at
it," he said.
For example, Hernandez and the Cabinet Resources Group
brought to the state's attention a lead contamination problem
at railroad loading facilities, called load-outs, in the
town of Troy that handled ore from the mine.
"As a result of having that problem brought to
our attention, load-outs are now included in the Metal Mine Reclamation
Act," McCullough said. The action was taken by the
last Legislature, at the request of the Department of Environmental
Quality.
"We are not totally unresponsive when these things are brought to our attention," he said.
However, he added: "We have had to answer many
letters from Cesar. We don't always agree with his interpretations
or
readings" of the statutes and mine reclamation rules,
he said.
During its 12 years of operation, the Troy mine processed
8,500 tons of ore per day, with a production capacity of 2,131
metric tons of silver and 20,000 metric tons of copper
concentrate per year.
Sterling Mining bought the Troy and Rock Creek projects
form ASARCO in October 2000, with Sterling's Genesis unit
as the owner of the Troy property.
According to Sterling, the Troy mine is a very similar
mining project to the proposed mine at Rock Creek, and its
environmental record "demonstrates the ability to
operate a mine with ore very similar to that at Rock Creek in
an
environmentally responsible manner."
Exactly, Hernandez claims, but he says the environmental problems have been ignored or minimized by state agencies.
No so, said McCullough.
"The agencies disagree with the assertion that
the agencies cannot enforce the statutes adequately. The Troy
mine has
had minimal impacts over the years, which has been documented
by the water quality and biological and aquatic
monitoring programs," he said.