The Daily Inter Lake

A lawsuit was filed Monday alleging that the state of Montana and the company that operates the Troy Mine have failed to produce an updated reclamation plan as required by law.

The Cabinet Resource Group filed the lawsuit in Helena District Court, accusing the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Revett Minerals of violating provisions of the Metal Mine Reclamation Act.

The group said in a press release that the state agency has failed in its responsibility of requiring the mine operators to have a valid and viable reclamation plan. Asarco, the mine's former operator, was directed to produce an updated reclamation plan in October 1999, a time when the mine was no longer operating.

Spokane-based Revett has since assumed ownership and reopened the mine.

Asarco and Revett "have gamed the regulatory system for seven years in avoiding revision of the Troy Mine's outdated reclamation plan," the press release states.

Carson Rife, vice president of operations for Revett, said the company and the Department of Environmental Quality have been working in good faith to produce a new reclamation plan.

"Last year, we submitted a revised reclamation plan, which we were asked to do, and the review process is ongoing," Rife said.

"It's unfortunate that Cabinet Resource Group has taken this action," he added. "From our standpoint, we have been doing what we need to. It may not be happening as fast as they would like to see, but we're working through the process."

The Cabinet Resource Group says the current plan fails to provide sufficient topsoil to reclaim the mine's tailings impoundment and the lack of a water treatment program in the plan has prevented the state agency from establishing an adequate reclamation bond, which the group estimates should be about $18 million.

Rife counters that even without a revised plan, the company has agreed to an interim bond increase from $10.5 million under the current plan to $12.9 million.

He noted that one complicating factor in negotiating a new reclamation plan is that the expected productivity of the mine has increased since it was reopened in late 2004.

At the time, the mine life was projected to be about two years, but that has been extended to an estimated five years, mainly because new ore has been discovered, he said.

"We may end up revising that reclamation plan once again" because of the extended mine life, Rife said.

The Cabinet Resource Group says that it is "exactly this kind of regulatory dalliance" that allowed other "reclamation misadventures" in Montana, such as the Zortman-Landusky and Beal mine operations that required taxpayer-assisted cleanups.

"With the mining industry in the midst of a resurgent metals market and high prices, the public should not be exposed or expected to carry the industry's long-term liabilities," the group says.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com