A group of conservation organizations said U.S. Critical Materials presented a “bad faith” proposal for “a mining plan” in the Sheep Creek area, not just an “exploration” plan as the company describes.
A letter from the groups to the Bitterroot National Forest asks the U.S. Forest Service to reject the operations plan to look for valuable minerals at the headwaters of the Bitterroot River.
The letter is signed by 21 conservation and planning organizations, some focused on the Bitterroot Valley and others focused on Montana or specific issues, the Daily Montanan reports.
Signers include Friends of the Bitterroot, MPG Ranch, Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association, Bitterroot River Protection Association, Montana Environmental Information Center, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Wild Earth Guardians and Center for Biological Diversity.
The West Fork Ranger District office was closed Monday and a spokesperson could not be reached for comment in time for this story.
U.S. Critical Materials, a privately held company with an interest in mine exploration, has proposed a controversial 3.9-acre project to look for “rare earth” minerals to see if a full-scale mine is feasible. Company representatives have said the operation would support the local economy and national security.
But members of the public have raised numerous concerns, including a lack of transparency on the part of company representatives, the environmentally sensitive nature of the site, and the potential for impacts to the entire watershed, especially on water.
After public outcry at a packed December meeting at the Hamilton fairgrounds, Ravalli County Commissioners sent letters to members of the Congressional delegation asking the project to be removed from the FAST-41 list of federal projects to be expedited.
Watch previous coverage: Sheep Creek mine public meeting draws comments, concerns in Hamilton
FAST stands for Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. Title 41 aims to streamline infrastructure projects related to energy, pipelines and other areas, including mining.
Monday, the project was still listed on the federal FAST-41 dashboard as a priority in Montana.
Members of the congressional delegation sent their own letter to the Forest Service urging it to ensure transparency from U.S. Critical Materials. Earlier, U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy and U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke explicitly called for the project’s removal from the FAST-41 list.
As chief among their concerns, members of the public and county commissioners have cited a lack of public engagement by U.S. Critical Materials, which states on its website that it is headquartered in Salt Lake City and has a mission to reduce foreign reliance of imports.
Rare earth elements are key ingredients used in everyday products such as cell phones and cars.
Ravalli County Commission Chairperson Dan Huls said Monday county commissioners have yet to hear from U.S. Critical Materials since the December meeting, and they, too, want more information from the company, especially about projected truck traffic.
The letter Monday from the conservation groups outlines multiple concerns, including that the plan of operation by U.S. Critical Materials is “missing basic critical information” and would require a full environmental impact statement as opposed to a less exhaustive environmental assessment.
“Among the numerous omissions and ploys we note, there is no discussion about testing for asbestos, a potentially immediate human health issue, and no plans to mitigate foreseeable impacts of toxins like arsenic, thorium, lead, or possible asbestos,” the letter said.
U.S. Critical Materials could not be reached for comment through a voicemail left Monday afternoon.
The letter also said the project is designed to allow U.S. Critical Materials to ignore waste from the site — “and they already are ignoring it.”
The plan proposes to transfer excess waste “to a containment pad and then offsite via truck to be utilized in gravel production or backfill unrelated to the proposed site activities,” the letter said. It said that it could spread toxic contamination, as happened in Ravalli County with Curlew Mine waste, and it raises another concern.
“This seems to be a cynical ploy to stay within a five-acre limit to surface disturbance,” the letter said.
The Bitterroot Star reported that old tailings from the Curlew Mine near Victor were used for graveling roads and even as fill for stream culverts by the Ravalli County Road Department, and a study linked lead contamination to the mine.
At the Sheep Creek site, the letter said waste is a significant issue.
It said mining a mile-long 12-by-12-foot tunnel will require more than an equally large space for storage — “think pulling a sleeping bag out of its stuff sack. The waste will be bigger than the hole it came out of.”
And the waste disposal is related to the mining and needs to be evaluated as a “foreseeable, connected, cumulative impact,” the letter said.
It said storage is also a problem.
“Storing rock inside the mine tunnel, which could be flooded with groundwater, looks like a recipe for a toxic stew of assorted minerals leaching off finely fractured rock surfaces into the water drainage,” the letter said. “We have no idea how the stew will turn out.”
Chairman Huls said the county is still missing important information from U.S. Critical Materials.
For example, he said the county commissioners have no idea if the project, in its production or exploration phase, would mean 10 trucks or 20 or 30 in any time period.
But the county is responsible for many of the roads leading to the site, he said, and more trucks mean more use, more traffic and budget implications.
“Frankly, without a large infusion of cash, we can’t improve those roads as it is,” Huls said.
Since the December meeting, Huls said the county has continued to hear from the public. He estimated 99% of the comments are opposed to fast-tracking the project and oppose the mine altogether, although he said a couple of callers said it presents an opportunity.
Huls said the county commissioners are monitoring the situation and will continue to do so.
“While we do as a commission support the extraction of critical materials, we think there are lots of better opportunities, and we don’t think the sensitivity of the environment where this proposed mine is can be healthy for our economy here in the Bitterroot — and especially with the potential environmental hazards that it possesses,” Huls said.
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