{"id":9920,"date":"2021-04-07T15:20:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T19:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=9920"},"modified":"2021-11-19T15:35:52","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T20:35:52","slug":"montana-free-press-fort-belknap-tribes-sue-to-protect-water-and-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/04\/07\/montana-free-press-fort-belknap-tribes-sue-to-protect-water-and-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Free Press: Fort Belknap Tribes sue to protect water and land"},"content":{"rendered":"\"bluearcmontana\"
The proposed site of the Blue Arc project. Source: Blue Arc LLC Exploration Project Zortman, MT\r\nFINAL Environmental Assessment – Montana DEQ<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Fort Belknap Tribes: DEQ failed to consult with tribes on Zortman site proposal<\/div>\r\n
A new lawsuit says the agency hasn\u2019t taken a \u2018hard look\u2019 at a proposal by Bozeman-based Blue Arc to remove 1,000 tons of rock from the former gold mine.<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, April 7, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Amanda Eggert<\/div>\r\n
Montana Free Press<\/DIV>\r\n
montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nA lawsuit filed in Phillips County District Court last week argues that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality failed to consult with tribes and fully evaluate environmental impacts in its handling of a proposal to remove 1,000 tons of rock from the site of a former gold mine in Zortman.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe Fort Belknap Indian Community<\/a>, Earthworks and the Montana Environmental Information Center are suing DEQ and Blue Arc, LLC, a Bozeman-based company that has applied for a license to evaluate rock samples collected from the Zortman gold mine in north-central Montana.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIf the exploration license is granted, Blue Arc would use an excavator with a hydraulic hammer to remove material from an exposed rock face in an area that was mined for gold and silver by Pegasus Gold in the 1980s and 1990s. Blue Arc would build 2,400 feet of road to access the excavation site, which would cover about 1.4 acres. The collected rock would then be shipped to a facility in Nevada for testing.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\"Zortman-Landusky\r\n

According to the Fort Belknap Indian Community, untreated waste from the former Zortman-Landusky mine complex is flowing into the reservation in Montana. Photo courtesy Fort Belknap Indian Community\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe lawsuit maintains the site is still contaminated and the agency failed to disclose impacts to water quality and natural resources that could result from the proposed rock removal.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cDEQ failed to consult with the Tribes regarding the new mining proposal though it had a legal duty to do so, failed to take a hard look at the environmental impacts of mineral exploration at Zortman, and shirked analysis of potentially significant impacts,\u201d the plaintiffs allege.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe lawsuit also outlines some of the environmental damage resulting from the Zortman and Landusky mines, which have cost federal and state agencies more than $77 million in reclamation efforts<\/a> and will require ongoing water treatment for hundreds \u2014 maybe thousands \u2014 of years. Though neither mine is located on the Fort Belknap Reservation, the mines have significantly impacted water quality there by contaminating multiple streams running into the southern end of the reservation with cyanide and acid mine drainage. \r\n

<\/P>\r\nAcid mine drainage, which is often associated with gold, silver and copper mines, occurs when sulfide minerals are exposed to water and air, creating sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid then lowers the pH in both surface and groundwater. It tends to give water an orangey rust color, is harmful to aquatic life and requires extensive, ongoing treatment.\r\n

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