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POB 433, Tonasket, WA 98855 509-485-3912 |
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- News Releases -
Washington State Department of Ecology
Date: March 15, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 00-036
Contact: Joan Marchioro, Assistant Attorney General, 360-459-6041
Joye Redfield-Wilder, Department of Ecology, 509-575-2610, pager 509-574-0490
Ecology will not challenge ruling on gold mine permit
OLYMPIA - A decision by the state Pollution Control Hearings Board overturning several permits issued for a proposed gold mine in Okanogan County will not be challenged by state attorneys working for the Department of Ecology.
In January, the PCHB reversed water quality permits and water right decisions needed by the Battle Mountain Gold Company and Crown Resources to proceed with plans to build the mine near the town of Chesaw in north central Washington.
"After consulting with our attorneys, we believe that an appeal by Ecology would not effectively change the outcome and move this project forward," said Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons. "At this time, the company is in a better position to argue the merits of its project."
In its ruling, the hearings board expressed concerns about the company's plans to compensate for damage to the environment resulting from the mining operation. The board specifically pointed out that errors were made in the scientific modeling, and therefore the mitigation plans could not show with certainty that they would be effective long after the mine is closed.
"Many projects rely on scientific modeling to predict how the environment might be harmed or altered and ways to compensate for those effects," said Fitzsimmons. "The board's decision signals that proponents of these kinds of projects must be prepared to thoroughly tackle questions of uncertainty when developing plans to restore lands where the environment is markedly changed."
In 1997, Ecology and the U.S. Forest Service completed an environmental impact statement for the proposed gold mine, which is mostly on federal land. Subsequently, federal agencies selected an alternative consisting of an open-pit mine that would employ up to 144 people for about 10 years and produce an average of 3,000 tons of ore per day from Buckhorn Mountain near Chesaw.
"We recognize the economic importance of this project for Okanogan County, and our staff invested a great deal of time and effort to see that the mine would be operated in an environmentally sound manner," Fitzsimmons said. "We believe we made the right decisions on the permits, but the PCHB overturned our decision in a way that leaves us few avenues for appeal."
"The challenge before our attorneys is not whether our permitting decisions are correct, but whether the board erred in its analysis of the facts in the case," he added.
The Battle Mountain Gold project is the first in the state of Washington to be fully scrutinized under the 1994 Metals Mining and Milling Act, which states that mining is a beneficial activity in the state of Washington. It also requires that the land be fully reclaimed after any mining operation.
The water quality permit approved last year, known as 401 certification, contained an aquatic-resources mitigation plan for improving wetlands and stream corridors to make up for areas damaged during mining operations. The plan also set aside several hundred acres of fish and wildlife habitat near the project site. A treatment system was designed to treat water in the lake formed by the mine pit, in case water quality did not meet standards.
Ecology approved 12 water rights for the Crown Jewel Mine project in November 1997. Approval was based on a plan that compensated for effects on instream flows and senior water rights.
Fitzsimmons noted the board's decision does not set a negative legal precedent for Ecology, nor does it undermine the state's authority to make similar permit decisions.
"If Battle Mountain Gold chooses to appeal to a higher court, we can enter the process at any time, and our attorneys are ready to file briefs to ensure the court fully understands our position on issues of statewide significance," he said.
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