HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Helena judge has ruled that a mining company must go through a more rigorous permitting process before it can build a copper and silver mine in the northwestern Montana wilderness.
Judge Kathy Seeley says her decision Thursday centered on the potential degradation of threatened bull trout habitat by the sediment generated by the Rock Creek mine’s construction.
Seeley voided Revett Minerals Inc.’s general permits approved by the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Instead, Revett must apply for individual permits that require a public comment process.
The Spokane, Wash.-based company had argued that environmental concerns were addressed through the general permitting process.
Work on the mine had already been blocked last year by a federal judge who ordered the U.S. Forest Service to reconsider its approval of the company’s proposal.
