Groups File Suit To Clean ‘Impaired’ Lakes

Five Montana-based environmental groups have filed suit to force state and federal agencies to set a schedule for cleaning up “impaired” lakes and streams in Montana.

They charge that the state Department of Environmental Quality and the federal Environmental Protection Agency have violated the federal Clean Water Act by failing to clean up polluted waters or to set a schedule for doing so.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court here, names only the EPA as a defendant.

“Babies have grown into adults while we’ve waited for DEQ to do its job and clean up these lakes and streams,” Jim Jensen, executive director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, said in a news release.

“And neither the Racicot administration nor the Legislature have proposed spending one cent to get it done.”

“This suit seeks to establish a reasonable timetable - three years - to return Montana’s impaired waters to a higher-quality condition,” added Mike Bader, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.

The environmental organizations served the required 60-day notice in December that they intended to file suit unless the agencies took action.