An Idaho company could be forced to pay the state of Montana more than $30 million in cleanup costs at three polluted mine sites before it can pursue two new projects proposed beneath a wilderness area, environmental regulators said Tuesday.
Continue Reading Below
Hecla Mining Inc. and its president are in violation of the state’s “bad actor” law that targets individuals who abandon polluted sites, Montana Department of Environmental Quality Director Tom Livers told The Associated Press.
The Coeur d’Alene-based company is pursuing development of two silver and copper mines beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in northwestern Montana.
Hecla’s president and CEO, Phillips Baker, Jr. was an executive with Pegasus Gold Corp, which went bankrupt in 1998 after operating mines that polluted surrounding waterways.
At the most polluted of the three sites, the Zortman Landusky gold mine in north-central Montana, the state has spent $32 million on cleanup work and continues to spend more than $2 million annually to treat contaminated water flowing from the site, Livers said.
State law blocks individuals who don’t clean or pay for the cleanup of old mines from starting new ones.
Advertisement
“We believe the Legislature was clear in its intent to hold individuals and companies accountable for their failure to reclaim mine sites,” Livers said. “We’re deeming Baker a bad actor for his Pegasus connections…By knowingly employing Baker, who violated the bad actor provision, Hecla is in violation.”
Hecla spokesman Luke Russell did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He’s said previously that the company was never directly involved with Pegasus, but has not directly addressed Baker’s role.
Hecla General Manager Doug Stiles and Baker were given 30 days to declare their intention to resolve the matter by repaying the state’s cleanup expenses. Alternatively, the company would have to prove Baker and any entity under his direction will not conduct mining or exploration activities in the state, the letters stated.
The bad actor law has only been enforced once before, in 2008, and never against major projects like the ones Hecla is pursuing at the Rock Creek Mine near Noxon and the Montanore Mine near Libby.
