Court order vacates expansion of Rosebud’s Area B mining permit

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.

Conservation organizations challenged a controversial wastewater discharge permit for the Palmer Project, a proposed multi-metals mine at the Chilkat Watershed’s headwaters. Earthjustice filed an appeal in Alaska Superior Court on behalf of Lynn Canal Conservation, Rivers Without Borders, and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council seeking more protective standards for wastewater discharge from mineral exploration conducted by Constantine Metal Resources Ltd (Constantine), a subsidiary of Vancouver, B.C.-based American Pacific Mining.

Regional groups seek tougher standards to protect Chilkat Watershed from Palmer Project wastewater

Signal Peak failing to comply with permit requirements to reclaim lands affected by subsidence

Orutsararmiut Native Council (ONC) and the Native Village of Eek today filed an appeal in the Alaska Supreme Court to review a lower court decision upholding 12 state water rights permits for the Donlin Gold Mine project.

State of Alaska agencies failed to fully consider harmful impacts of the massive gold mine when issuing water permits and a water quality certificate

Petition from the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) addresses Canada’s failure to regulate and prevent threats from large-scale mining operations in British Columbia

Decision by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to admit a petition from Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC), alleging that Canada’s failure to regulate and prevent threats from large-scale mining operations in British Columbia constitutes a violation of SEITC member Tribes’ internationally recognized human rights.

Administration, Congress should strengthen regulations, reform outdated mining laws

Settlement cuts off oil shale giant’s planned mine and processing facility from water supply

The federal court sided with government and with intervenors represented by Earthjustice

Dangerous mining plans threatened to ruin a pristine wilderness and a town’s thriving economy. Until we stepped in.

U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper agreed with the government and intervening groups that Twin Metals failed to raise a proper claim and that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case, dismissing the lawsuit in full.

In a partial win for the Chilkat Indian Village, salmon and conservation groups, additional water quality analysis is now required to safeguard against mining

In a final agency decision issued on an administrative appeal, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) upheld a flawed waste management permit for exploratory drilling at the Palmer Project mine in Southeast Alaska while also determining that more work must be done to ensure Alaska’s water quality standards are not exceeded due to wastewater from the mining project.

Heeding calls from tribal leaders, President Biden designated nearly a million acres as Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.

Statement from Earthjustice Senior Legislative Representative Blaine Miller-McFeeley