Lawsuit Challenges Montana’s Bull Mountains Coal Mine Expansion, Trump’s Sham Energy Emergency

Billings, MT —

Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today over its approval of a major expansion of the Bull Mountains Coal Mine in Montana.

The U.S. Office of Surface Mining approved the expansion last June without releasing a draft environmental impact statement to the public, citing the Trump administration’s energy emergency order to force the project through without public input. In their filing, the groups note that there is no energy emergency, and even if there were, this expansion wouldn’t help to address it because virtually all coal from the mine is shipped overseas.

“It was well known by both miners and regulators that a longwall mine would dewater the Bull Mountains, driving generational ranching families off their land to enrich three out-of-state corporations sending coal overseas,” said Pat Thiele, a landowner in the Bull Mountains and member of the plaintiff organizations. “Nobody with any authority cares.”

“This mine has not been a good neighbor to us here in the Bulls,” said Tom Baratta, a landowner in the Bull Mountains and member of the plaintiff organizations. “We see the damage to the land and local water sources caused by mining. We breathe the air downwind of a toxic waste pile. We are losing habitat for wildlife and game. Ranchers and property owners are pushed off for cheap. We have made many attempts to work with the mine and Montana DEQ in the past but could never find common ground or productive communication.”

Upon taking office, the Trump administration issued an executive order announcing an energy emergency, contending the U.S. lacked sufficient energy to meet its needs. However, fossil fuel production has been occurring at record levels in an already oversaturated market. If the administration’s order was meant to address an actual energy emergency, conservation groups state it would be nonsensical to simultaneously adopt policies that inhibit wind and solar energy development — the fastest growing sources of energy globally — and promote coal exports to other countries.

“This mine has absolutely devastated the water quality and quantity in the Bull Mountains, all so that we can ship coal overseas,” said Derf Johnson, deputy director of the Montana Environmental Information Center. “Meanwhile, President Trump is attempting to shut down the most affordable source of energy currently on the market – wind energy – to help his fossil fuel buddies make a profit. Make it make sense.”

In approving the expansion, the Trump administration failed to adequately examine the mine’s threats to the region’s vital water resources. Water supplies have already been destroyed above the mine, forcing local ranchers out of the Bull Mountains.

Ranchers and animals in the Bull Mountains depend entirely on the 0.1% of the area that contains springs, wells and ponds. State and federal studies by the Office of Surface Mining predicted that the Bull Mountains Mine would irreversibly dewater the Bull Mountains and that those harms could not be mitigated. However, the final approval of the mine ignored those studies.

“For decades, experts and citizens alike have raised the alarm that this mine would drain the Bull Mountains of water, and courts have ruled any further expansion would be illegal,” said Kristine Akland, Northern Rockies director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Ranching families and local communities will pay the price of this expansion.”

A 2023 New York Times report outlined a deeply troubled history at Signal Peak’s Bull Mountains Mine. Regulators have repeatedly found violations of worker safety and environmental safeguards connected to the mine’s past operations.

“When a mine has a dangerous history of safety and environmental violations, the last thing regulators should do is rush approval behind closed doors,” said Rebecca Sobel, climate and health director for WildEarth Guardians. “NEPA requires transparency, science, and public participation, especially when communities’ land and water are on the line. This case is about defending the rule of law and stopping federal agencies from rewriting environmental safeguards through political shortcuts.”

“President Trump’s ‘national energy emergency’ is pure fiction. In truth, 2024 marked the highest fossil fuel production levels in American history, capping seven straight years of U.S. dominance over global fossil fuel markets,” said Melissa Hornbein, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “The ‘emergency’ is yet another fraudulent abuse of power to silence the public, ignore environmental requirements, and approve this notorious coal mine expansion no matter the cost. We aim to stop it.”

“The Trump administration rubber-stamped an expansion for a mine with an alarming history,” said Shiloh Hernandez, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies Office. “The sham energy emergency that this approval was based on does not exist, and even if it did, shipping coal overseas wouldn’t help to address it. The agency has again failed to faithfully follow the science, so we’ll see them in court.”

Earthjustice and the Western Environmental Law Center are representing the Montana Environmental Information Center, the Center for Biological Diversity, and WildEarth Guardians in the litigation. Today’s suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.