Ruling cheered; Hecla undaunted

SANDPOINT — Environmental and conservation groups celebrated court rulings Tuesday which overturned agency approvals of the proposed Montanore mine, although project developers say they are undeterred by the setbacks.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued a pair of rulings from his bench in Missoula which nullified U.S. Fish & Wildlife sign-offs certifying that the copper and silver mining proposal would not jeopardize endangered bull trout or grizzly bear. The rulings also upended the U.S. Forest Service’s record of decision on the project.

Molloy held that the agency approvals violated the Endangered Species, Clean Water, National Environmental Policy and National Forest Management acts.

“This is an important decision for the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, which was first recognized as a special place by Teddy Roosevelt,” said Mary Costello of Save Our Cabinets, one of the groups which challenged federal approvals of the contested mining proposal. “Today, the wilderness still provides habitat for increasingly rare wildlife and contains some of the purest water in the lower 48 states.”

Earthjustice, another of the suits’ plaintiffs, also welcomed Molloy’s rulings on Wednesday.

“Yesterday’s ruling underscores how wrong it is to site major industrial facilities on the doorstep of public wilderness lands that provide impeccable habitat for imperiled wildlife,” said Katherine O’Brien, an attorney for Earthjustice, which represented Save Our Cabinets, Earthworks and the Clark Fork Coalition in the challenge of the Forest Service approval.

Hecla Mining Co., which seeks to extract 20,000 tons of ore a day during the project’s 20-year lifespan, said it was not daunted by the adverse rulings.

“We are disappointed but not deterred with the court’s ruling. We will digest the decision then meet with the federal agencies to discuss how to address the courts findings,” Luke Russell, vice president of external affairs for Hecla, said on Wednesday.

Hecla insists it can safely extract the ore without harming the environment while providing up to 450 jobs in the region.

“We know the project can and will be done right. Advancing the evaluation phase, which the state has approved, is needed to get the information necessary to help design the best project possible,” Russell said.

The mine would be located about 18 miles south of Libby. The targeted ore body is beneath the wilderness, although all access and surface facilities would be located outside the wilderness boundaries. The mine itself would be constructed using the room-and-pillar method in which pillars of ore are left intact to support the rock ceiling.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and find him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.