Environmental Group Targets Mining Waste

An environmental group is suing ASARCO for allegedly discharging wastewater into two creeks near its idled Troy, Mont., copper and silver mine.

The Cabinet Resources Group claims ASARCO has been releasing the metal-laden water into Lake and Stanley creeks since 1984 without the proper permits.

Both streams drain into the Kootenai River, which runs through Bonners Ferry.

The environmentalists, based in Noxon, Mont., warn the discharges have eroded water quality and downstream fishing and contaminated fish that may have been eaten by sportsmen.

Since their suit was filed in late January in U.S. District Court in Missoula, efforts to reach an out-of-court settlement with ASARCO have been unsuccessful, group members said, although mine project manager Dave Young said ASARCO still wants to settle the dispute.

“We are quite frankly taken aback at some of these comments,” Young said. “We haven’t given up on it yet.”

Diane Williams, Sandpoint representative for the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Coalition, said Troy’s alleged violations are a harbinger of what will happen if the Rock Creek Mine being fought by the coalition is allowed to operate.

“Basically, they’re setting themselves up for the same problems at Rock Creek,” she said. That mine proposal has faced heavy criticism from people concerned about the potential pollution of Lake Pend Oreille.

Young said it is unfair to compare the Rock Creek and Troy mines since the Rock Creek Mine would operate under state and federal discharge permits. But environmentalists argue the two are very similar in design and potential for problems. The Troy mine was idled in 1992 because of low metal prices.

The suit asks the judge to order ASARCO to obtain federal and state discharge permits, remove contaminants in the creeks and pay up to $25,000 per day in penalties under the Clean Water Act.

, DataTimes