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November 22, 2023
The Montana Supreme Court ruled on November 22, 2023, that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) repeatedly ignored the law and failed to protect water quality from an expansion of the “Area B” permit area of the Rosebud coal strip mine near Colstrip, one of the largest coal strip mines in the nation. The court’s order vacated the mining permit, finding that Montana’s laws governing strip mining (the Montana Strip and Underground Mine Reclamation Act) prohibit DEQ from allowing strip mining if a company cannot assure that water resources will be protected.