Crowd turns out to support Tunnels expansion

by Jan Anderson, editor

Montana Tunnels Mine is a vital part of the community, a safe and environmentally friendly business that deserves to receive state approval for expansion. That was the message voiced over and over Wednesday night when the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Bureau of Land Management held a public hearing at the Clancy School.

Nearly 150 people signed in at the hearing, many employed by the mine or its vendors, and everyone who spoke in the hour-long hearing on the draft environmental impact study of the proposal supported the mine’s quest to expand its pit and extend its operating life.

The mine has applied for a permit that would allow it to expand its pit, allowing it to reach ore that could extend the mine operations for an estimated five to seven years. Without that approval, mining will end this summer, leaving the roughly 215 current employees without jobs and devastating the community’s tax base, said speakers Wednesday.

“Our taxes are half what they are in Lewis & Clark County, and the reason is we have mining,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Tom Lythgoe.

“Not only does this mine support Jefferson County; it supports Montana,” said Dave Kirsch of Boulder. The products and services purchased by the mine provide paychecks throughout the state, he said.

“We really need to have these jobs, and they’ve been a very good neighbor,” said Kathy Rux, Boulder City Council member.

The “good neighbor” theme arose repeatedly in comments.

The mine supports the high school, the Jefferson County Rodeo and many other civic causes, said mine employee Dan Sturdevant.

“You name it, they’re just big supporters of everything. We need people like that,” he said.

“The mines are what make Jefferson County go,” said Holly Harper of Whitehall, whose family is supported by the Golden Sunlight Mine. “The mines allow the schools to do all sorts of things they would never be able to do without them,” she said.

“Montana Tunnels is a great neighbor,” said Commissioner Lythgoe. The mine management has worked hard to keep the mine going despite some challenges, he said.

“They have made Montana Tunnels work, and we’d like to see it work for another five, six, seven, eight years or however long it will last,” he said.

One employee talked about the caring and support he received from the mine and its health insurance when he had a collapsed lung. “I owe my life to Montana Tunnels,” he said.

Several speakers commented on the mine’s good environmental record since it opened in 1987. “Montana Tunnels is a very safe mine...a very environmentally clean mine,” said Dustin Stewart, a former contractor and former Montana Mining Association official. If the state regulatory agencies were to deny the Montana Tunnels application, they would be saying there will never be another mine in Montana – ever, said Stewart.

Robert Aguirre of Basin said he has a mining heritage. Like his grandfather and father before him, he has worked in many mines and watched what happens to a community when a mine closes. “This is one of the cleanest, safest mines that I’ve ever worked at, and I think it would be a natural disaster to shut it down,” said Aguirre.

As part of the recommended alternative in the draft EIS on the expansion, the mine would divert Clancy Creek permanently around the pit, something some speakers said would benefit the waterway and community. An engineer working on the diversion plan said the streambed would “mimic a natural and restored drainage system.”

Another miner said he and fellow miners are often hunters and very supportive of wildlife efforts, belonging to organizations such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Ducks Unlimited and having the income to be able to donate to those causes. That benefits wildlife not only in Montana but far and wide, he said.

John Schaefer, Montana Tunnels Environmental Manager, predicted that the world’s need for metals such as those produced at Montana Tunnels are going to continue to rise. China and India are emerging as growing consumer nations and “there will probably come a time when there will be a shortage of all these metals.”

The metals recovered at Montana Tunnels are needed for many consumer goods, such as computers and cars, Schaefer and others pointed out.

“Mining products are essential to human activities,” said Schaefer. “They don’t just dome off of a store shelf.”

The comment period on the draft EIS runs until April 15. Comments can be submitted to Greg Hallsten, Director’s Office, DEQ, PO Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901, (406) 444-3276, or emailed to ghallsten@mt.gov.

Following the close of the comment period, the agencies will prepare a final EIS responding to substantive comments on the draft.

Too long a delay by the state agencies in approving the mine’s expansion permit could result in a shutdown, Schaefer has said. Under the current permit, mining operations are scheduled to be completed in July of 2008 and milling and processing of stockpiled ore will be completed in the third quarter of 2009, said mine officials.

“On behalf of the employees of Montana Tunnels, I ask the agencies to act with urgency,” said Schaefer.

Montana Tunnels Mine Vice President and General Manager Tim Smith also urged the agencies to act quickly.

“Why is Montana Tunnels a great place to work? It’s not the price of metals. It’s not air conditioned haul trucks,” he said to the laughter of the employees who drive the massive trucks in and out of the pit.

“It’s the people who work at Montana Tunnels that make Montana Tunnels a great place to work,” said the general manager.

It took years to amass the quality workforce that is employed at the mine, said Smith.

“You know what happens when Montana Tunnels stops? You dissolve a workforce,” he said.

That, said many attending Wednesday’s hearing, would be a loss for the community in a multitude of ways.

Crowd turns out to support Tunnels expansion

Friday, April 11, 2008