Mines Ask For Water Quality Exemption Lawmakers Agree To Rewrite New Rules After Mining Companies Object To Standards

Mining companies in Idaho will get a break from new ground water quality rules if a proposed rule change makes its way through the Legislature.

The change would make mining exempt from certain ground water quality standards in active mining areas.

“We wanted specific recognition that mining is different from other activities, because we actually work in the ground water,” said Jack Lyman, Idaho Mining Association lobbyist.

The ground water rules were adopted last year by the Division of Environmental Quality after negotiations involving business, industry, environmental and government interests.

The mining association didn’t like the outcome and appealed to the Legislature for help. Lawmakers complied by passing a joint resolution last year directing the DEQ to change the rules, by recognizing the uniqueness of mining and eliminating the concept of “ecologically sensitive systems.”

The DEQ came back with an amended rule that did what the lawmakers asked. The agency also added a section that declares naturally occurring elements found in the ground water at active mining sites will not be considered contaminants as long as the mining operation is complying with state law.

At a point some distance from the active mining operation, the mining company would be required to meet ground water standards - even for naturally occurring metals.

The act of mining crushes the surrounding rock, exposing more of the mineralized rock to the water and releasing more metals into the ground water.

“When we go out and dig a hole, we typically do it in areas where there are elevated levels of minerals,” Lyman said. “We don’t go out and dig holes where there is distilled water. … If you measure me in my pit, I’m likely not to meet the standard that you set.”

The Idaho Conservation League is concerned about the exemption.

“How big of an exemption are they going to get? A few hundred yards, or several miles?” asked Scott Brown, ICL’s state issues director. “There’s a lot of discretion there that the DEQ gets, and given their cozy relationship with the polluters, I don’t think that’s adequate protection for the public.”

Brown also said he doesn’t like the fact that the mining industry was able to get special treatment after the rule-making committee voted in favor of the original rules three times.

“If the special interests are able to come back and subvert that process through the back door, it casts a shadow on the whole negotiated rule-making process,” he said.

Lyman said that he lost on several issues in the rule-making process.

“I would write a much different ground water rule if I were dictator,” Lyman said. He said he asked only for changes to bring the rules into line with a state Ground Water Quality Plan that the Legislature adopted in 1992. That plan also recognized mining’s uniqueness.

Earlier this week, the House Environmental Affairs Committee unanimously approved the rule change. The lone Democrat on the committee, Ken Robison of Boise, originally opposed the change last year.

“Now it is the consensus of the legislature, and I thought Jack Lyman gave a pretty good explanation of how it would work,” Robison said. “That eased my concerns.”

DEQ’s Susan Burke, a water quality section supervisor, said she believes the revised rules still give DEQ enough authority to protect ground water.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: What’s next A change to water quality rules for mining companies is scheduled to go before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee Jan. 29.