Wednesday, March 15, 2000

DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY DECIDES AGAINST APPEALING REJECTION OF GOLD MINE

Battle Mountain Gold Company Files last minute appeal

Today, the Washington State Department of Ecology announced it will NOT file an appeal of the January 19, 2000 ruling by the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) denying permits for Battle Mountain Gold Company's (BMG) proposed large scale open pit cyanide leach gold mine. Yesterday at 5 pm, BMG did file a lone appeal of the PCHB ruling in Superior Court. The Okanogan Highlands Alliance (OHA), the Washington Environmental Council (WEC), the Colville Confederated Tribes and the Center for Environmental Law & Policy had appealed Ecology's approval of the water rights and water quality permits that would have allowed the mine to use and pollute large amounts of water. Today was the final day that the PCHB ruling could appeal in State Superior Court.

"This is a victory for sound science over the politics that Battle Mountain Gold has consistently used to push their ill-conceived gold mine," states David Kliegman director of Okanogan Highlands Alliance and long term local opponent of the mine." In light of the environmental disasters like the recent cyanide spills from a gold mine in Eastern Europe, it is time for Battle Mountain Gold to abandon this fatally flawed mine proposal."

"The State, in consultation with the Attorney General's office, made the right decision not to appeal the Pollution Control Hearings Board's ruling," noted David Mann President of Washington Environmental Council. "The people of Washington State do not want the State promoting a large open pit mine that would polluting our waters and ruin the landscape on North Central Washington forever."

On February 14 the PCHB ruled on a BMG and Ecology request for reconsideration of some limited procedural issues regarding the State Environmental Policy Act that had been considered moot since the permits had been rejected. The PCHB ruling was consistent with the previous ruling; that Ecology had followed the correct procedure but the documents lack the substance required by law.

"The Pollution Control Hearings Board rulings clearly stated that the permits did not pass legal muster," states Rachael Paschal, a public interest water lawyer. "The Department of Ecology's decision not to appeal shows that they recognize that they would lose any future court challenges."

In November 1997, Ecology granted nearly 500 million gallons annually in water rights to BMG's Crown Jewel project even though the streams fed by Buckhorn Mountain were already fully appropriated. The PCHB reversed all 16 water rights finding that the modeling results were overly optimistic or inaccurate and not credible. The board was also concerned that the complex engineering system of the proposed mitigation activities and the high elevation water treatment plant, would have to be powered and maintained in perpetuity.

The PCHB found BMG's proposed posting of a large bond to ensure perpetual maintenance of its engineered mitigation unpersuasive, stating that "this approach is tantamount to entering a busy interstate highway on an exit ramp against the traffic. The availability of insurance in that circumstance is no more comforting than the proposed bonding here. The focus of our environmental laws must be on preventing pollution and habitat degradation . . . The long-term engineered solutions proposed in this case are legally insufficient."

Ecology acknowledged that the mine drainage leaching from the waste piles is predicted to violate state groundwater standards. Yet the agency was willing to certify that the mine would meet standards when an as-yet unidentified water quality treatment plan was adopted. The board dubbed Ecology's review "a work in progress" and rejected the certification as legally unsupportable.

The Okanogan Highlands Alliance is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to educating the public about the environmental threats of large open pit mines and encouraging sustainable economic development. The Washington Environmental Council is a statewide coalition of 90 member groups and thousands of individuals working to protect our forest and wildlife, water and fish, open spaces, and quality of life.

For more information contact:

David Kliegman Okanogan Highlands Alliance: 509-485-3361

David Mann, Washington Environmental Council: 206-621-8868

Rachael Paschal, public interest water lawyer: 509-838-4912

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